. 
\ 
SAS 
N . 
S 
WN SN 


WS 


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AY 


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eras ag 


mk TES ae SE axtPe eed; 
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7 











Carved Wooden Figure, showing the way in which Netsukes are used 


NETSUKES 


BY 


ALBERT BROCKHOUS 


Translated by M. F. Watty 
Edited by E. G. Stillman 


ILLUSTRATED 





NEW YORK 


Perr lee D  & COMPANY 
1924 





} 


FIELD & COMPANY _ 








’ 


CONTENTS 


Preach TO .UNGHISH EIDITION . .-. . .--+-+ . « » Ik 
feeeeoee TO GERMAN Kipirion. .......... =X 
MW RONUNCIATION—SPELLING . . . 1. . + «2 « » » XVI 
CHaprer I—UsE AND KINpDs or NETSUKES ..... 3 
Cuapter [I—THE CarvinGc oF NETSUKES. ..... 18 
CuapTer IJI—NEtTsuKE SUBJECTS... fs . 41 
CuapterR IV—NETSUKE COLLECTIONS eles: 
Cuapter V—THE History or NETSUKES . : 71 
CHaprer VI—Artists’ SIGNATURES. ....... 95 
CuapTrer VII—MyrTnHouocicaL SUBJECTS . ae Reh el Poe 


Perr Iik—ntGIBUIOGRAPHY. . . .« « «© « «© «© « « « L783 


Na 
Poy fia go 
are iat 





ILLUSTRATIONS 


All the Manjus and Netsukes shown in these illustrations 


are reproduced actual size. 


CARVED WoopEN Figure SHOWING THE WAY IN WuicH 
NETSUKES ARE USED 


PLATE I. 
Puate sid. 
Puate III. 
Puate IV. 
Pram V. 
Puate VI. 
PuatE VII. 
Puate VIII. 
PuaTte IX. 
PuaTteE X. 
PuateE XI 
Puate XII. 
Puate XITT. 


PLATE XIV. 
PLATE XV. 
Puate XVI. 


Mangus 
OCCUPATIONS . 
Wiup ANIMALS . 
DomeEstic ANIMALS 
UTENSILS 

Masks 

Masks 


CoMPASS AND OTHER PIECES 


Pirge CASE AND OTHER FIGURES . 


FIGURES 

DAGGER AND INCENCE HOLDER . 
MonxkKEYS 

Moon AND OTHER FIGURES . 
VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS . 
MyrTHo.ocicaL Figures . 
WRITING OUTFIT AND FIGURES . 


ce 


. Opp. page 


ce 


. Frontispiece 


14 
22 
36 
48 
58 
66 
80 


92 
104 
114 
126 
134 
144 
154 
164 





PREFACE TO THE ENGLISH EDITION 


Aut who are interested in the exquisite Japanese 
carvings called Netsukes, owe a deep debt of grat- 
itude to Albert Brockhous for having published 
his masterly treatise on that subject. In order 
to make this work available to the American col- 
lectors who own one or many Netsukes, this 
English translation has been prepared by Miss M. 
H. Watty. In this much abridged English version 
no attempt has been made to reproduce the ex- 
quisite colored illustrations or the numerous half- 
tone cuts of the original German edition. The 
facsimiles of the Japanese signatures have also 
been omitted, as well as the extensive bibliography. 
Anyone wishing to study signatures or to delve 
deeper into the subject should consult the original 
German work. 


HK. G. STILLMAN, Editor. 


nt 








PREFACE TO THE GERMAN EDITION 


“Everything has its _ beauty, 
But not everyone can see it.’’ 


—CoNFUCIUS. 


How is it possible in these days for people with 
limited means to acquire the original works of a 
master? Now that there are museums, one might 
think that it was not worth while for the individual 
to compete with these institutions, and since col- 
lecting became an art and a science, many have 
abandoned the difficult task of getting together a 
collection. Now that there has spread among 
people that desire to make their homes look as 
luxurious as possible, which has caused the prices 
of art objects to increase to such an extent that 
they are unattainable by intellectuals, there is 
great danger that art as well as handicraft may 
become a monopoly of the rich. 

In spite of this, however, there are still some 
genuine works of art, really original pieces, which 


X1 


PREFACE 


are accessible to him who, through the new and 
the unusual which ordinarily discourages the 
masses, is able to distinguish grace and artistic 
perfection, and who can judge with his own eyes 
and with a little effort delve into the inexhaustible 
world of Japanese art, at a time when very few 
have any appreciation of it. 

Whosoever is filled with the desire to understand 
the art of other peoples, must have sufficient in- 
tellectual elasticity to be able to see things with 
their eyes, and to think and feel as they think and 
feel. That which in the beginning seemed absurd, 
will then become logical. In order to enjoy 
Japanese art, the collector must first endeavor to 
learn something about the alphabet and the lan- 
guage of the people who have created it. 

The domain of Japanese art and Japanese 
masters is inexhaustible. Painting, plastic art, 
architecture, and the handicrafts closely related 
to those fine arts, have, in the course of bygone 
centuries, produced accomplishments which are 
only partly equalled by the Japanese today, and 
which remain wholly unattainable to other people. 
It is therefore well worth while to collect Japanese 
things. Fabrics, forged articles and carvings, 


xii 


PREFACE 


earthen wares and lacquer works, paintings and 
wood engravings, utensils for religious service, 
and ordinary articles of use, are all perfect in 
their own way. From the endless number of their 
creations, which are well worthy of being studied, 
one only needs to pick out one special thing to 
discover the ever-increasing joy we derive from 
it. ‘To him who possesses knowledge of the sub- 
ject, every Japanese collection tells of a foreign 
people, of an exotic animal and vegetable king- 
dom, of emperor, nobleman and middle-class, of 
ehurch, monks and nuns, of mythological repre- 
sentations which are as adventurous as those of 
our own Old Testament or those of our Grecian, 
Roman and Germanic mythology; of legends and 
stories which at times are exceedingly different 
from, and at other times ridiculously similar to, 
the Indo-Germanie tales. 

The Netsuke, of which this book treats, is a work 
of art that can only exist once in this world. It 
is found in Japan only, and like the leaves of the 
trees, there are never two pieces of it that are 
alike. But it is not only the original pieces which 
give one pleasure and satisfaction. The Japanese 
are such excellent imitators that pieces which are 


Xili 


PREFACE 


undoubtedly copies could readily be taken for 
first-class works of art. Even those which, al- 
though marked with a name of the 17th century, 
have been created some one or two hundred years 
later are worth owning. It is the object and the 
artistic execution which attract us, irrespective of 
whether the work is ‘‘genuine’’ in the sense of 
art history or not; at any rate it is ‘‘genuine”’ 
through the spiritualization of material and 
‘‘genuine’’ through its technical perfection. 


““A thing of beauty is a joy for ever.’ 


The Netsukes deserve more universal considera- 
tion than they have been given before the fast 
moving present generation who still wear them 
permit them to fall completely into oblivion; and 
besides, up to this time, hardly anything has been 
published about them. No complete book on this 
subject can be written for some time to come, for 
there are no Europeans who have succeeded in 
mastering the Japanese and Chinese language and 
writing, and at the same time are well versed in 
the mythology, religion, history and legends of 
the different arts, and above all, of East-Asiatic 
art. On the other hand, there are no Japanese 


X1V 


PREFACE 


who have sufficiently studied European art his- 
tory to understand what we require in the way of 
historical research. 

H. Seymour-Trower wrote around 1890: ‘A 
book on Netsukes has yet to be written. The 
person who can begin and bring to a successful end 
such a tremendous undertaking, deserves ever- 
lasting gratitude.’’ This has yet to be done, but 
as one who has loved these works of art from the 
very beginning, I am going for the first time to 
collect and apply all that has been written on the 
subject, and to tell what I have observed in so far 
as Lam able. That I am greatly indebted to the 
authors mentioned in the references quoted goes 
without saying. Great assistance has been 
rendered me by the oral explanations of Messrs. 
Hayashi, Bing and Gonse of Paris, as well as of 
the Messrs. Okasaki, at that time residing in 
Leipzig, and to Professor E. Baelz of Tokyo, for 
his valuable information which enabled me to 
avoid mistakes that as a layman I would probably 
have made. 

Perhaps I may succeed in interesting, in addi- 
tion to the small circle of Netsuke collectors, some- 
one who has an artistic inclination for these gems 


xXV 


PREFACE 


of glyptic art. Perhaps someone will make use 
of Pierre Louys’ saying in reference to my attempt 
to write this book: ‘‘I am satisfied when, after 
having read a book, I am able to keep in my 
memory one sentence that has made me think.’’ 

I pursued my Japanese studies as a rest from 
tiresome work, and spent a great many Sundays 
writing down what I knew, what I had learned and 
what I had observed. Now the printed book lies 
before me and looks to me as though it demanded 
more attention. I regret that I cannot improve 
upon it nor make it more complete. “‘Non pinaisse 
sed pingere juvat’’ seems also to be applicable to 
me. If that which I have compiled as a first 
attempt, shall stimulate comment, and if because 
of the criticism of my work the desired book on 
Netsukes should be produced, nobody will be more 
pleased than 

THE AUTHOR. 


Leipzig, September 2, 1905. 


PRONUNCIATION—SPELLING 


Pronunciation. The vowels of the Japanese 
language are pronounced as in German; 0, u = long 
o,u. Vowels following one another must be pro- 
nounced separately; for instance: Susanoo = 
Susano-o; u at the end of a word, when preceded 
by ts and s, and at the end of a syllable, is not pro- 
nounced. For instance: Getsu = Gets. Hoku-sai 
= Hoksai; Netsu-ke= Netske. The consonants are 
pronounced as in English, ch = tsch, j = dsch; on 
the other hand y= German j;z= softs. 

Spelling. In the names of the Netsuke carvers 
there is always a hyphen after the signs in order 
to clearly show the different parts of the names 
which consist of several syllables. All other names, 
and the Japanese and Chinese words remain un- 
separated. 

I have followed the transcription method of 
Capt. F. Brinkley, Nanjo and Iwasaki, ‘‘An un- 
abridged Japanese-English Dictionary’’ (Tokyo, 
1896) for the spelling. A. B. 


XVil 





— 








ra 








NETSUKES 


CHAPTER I 


USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKES 


JAPANESE fashions have in reality remained the 
same since the eighth century A. D. They are, 
in principle, the same for men, women and chil- 
dren, and for all classes. As the greatest part of 
the Netsuke figures represent clothed human 
forms, it will be well to proceed, first of all, with a 
minute description of the Japanese dress, which 
is based upon information received from Professor 
EK. Baelz in Tokyo. 

The principal, and very often the only, piece of 
clothing worn in summer, is a long dressing gown 
effect, with a skirt, held around the waist by a 
girdle, to which the name kimono is often applied, 
and which is usually made of cotton or silk or of 
hemp-cloth for summer wear. The kimono reaches 
to the ankles and does not trail when worn outside 


of the house. ‘The dress, which is called kaidort 
3 


4 NETSUKES 


or uchikake by women of distinction, and shikake 
by the demi-monde, and which is either embroid- 
ered or gaily colored, is worn over the kimono and 
the obi. 

The complete woman’s costume in the best taste 
consists of a hip-cloth, a cotton strip wrapped 
around the body from the waist down to the knees, 
and tied around the waist with a belt. Then comes 
first the undershirt reaching from the shoulders 
to the hips, or else the long shirt which reaches to 
the ankles. Then comes the kimono itself, which 
is in the nature of a shirt, a dress with long pocket- 
armholes, open in front, buttoned from left to right 
and tied at the waist with a sash. The kimono 
would trail on the floor were it not that it is 
gathered around the hips and held there by means 
of a belt. In this way, as the left side of the 
kimono is drawn very much over to the right side, 
the dress becomes very tight around the legs and 
this makes a free and easy walk impossible; hence 
the unbecoming, slow and sliding walk of the well- 
dressed Japanese woman. 

The kimono consists generally of silk of one 
and the same color, perferably silk crepe; for 
young girls it is often made of varied colors and 


USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE 5 


in the case of young children, the colors worn are 
often very bright. Red is not considered suitable 
for grown-up persons. Over the kimono is worn 
the overskirt. 

The formal costume in winter includes an un- 
dershirt, long shirt, and two wadded dresses, made 
of Habutai silk; their white borders, which cross 
over the chest, are both visible, and over this comes 
a kimono of black crepe with the lower border 
made of colored silk or embroidered. 

The dresses embroidered in colors which were 
so generally worn in Europe by the women, and 
which were used by the ladies of the houses of the 
Daimyo and Hatamoto as mantles over their 
girdles, are not the same as the kimono.  ‘T'hey 
were allowed to trail when worn in the house; on 
the street, however, they were gathered up. The 
demi-monde generally wear similar dresses. 

The most striking and the most expensive part 
of a woman’s attire is the girdle. Itis about four 
and a half yards long and twelve inches in width, 
and in some instances made of very heavy gold bro- 
cade which is folded lengthwise and then turned 
over. T’o tie an obi is.a very difficult matter, and it 
is laughable to see a woman, after she has first made 


0 NETSU KES 


a loop on one side, wind herself in the girdle so to 
speak. She turns herself around several times, 
until the material is practically used up. Then, 
with the end that is left and with the help of the 
loop she made in the first place, and of a soft pad 
which is inserted, she makes a thing that resembles 
a pillow or a schoolbag, and which adorns the lower 
part of the back. 

For about one hundred years the girdle orna- 
ment was worn in front, especially by women of 
high rank and by widows as well as by the demi- 
monde, who imitated the aristocratic class in an 
attempt to attract the men by elegance and refine- 
ment rather than by exposing their physical 
charms. By girls of the better classes, this orna- 
ment is also worn perpendicularly and in this case 
reaches upward to the neck. 

The slit which is formed by the folds of the 
girdle all the way round, is used to carry pocket- 
books, purses, tobacco pouch and pipe. The 
little case containing paper which is used in- 
stead of a handkerchief, used to be carried in the 
dress above the girdle. 

Both sexes wear stockings with one opening for 


USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE 7 


the big toe, and, when in the street, sandals made 
of straw, or very odd clattering shoes. 

The order in which the male clothing is worn 
in winter, when there are many layers of clothing, 
is as follows: a piece of cloth covering the hips, a 
silk or cotton shirt, a wadded under jacket, an 
under dress, an over dress and an overcoat. On 
certain festive occasions the men also wear a kind 
of silk trousers or rather ‘‘divided skirts’’ and the 
Samurai wear a stiff three-cornered over dress on 
festal occasions. The head is mostly uncovered, 
but persons belonging to the working class some- 
times have their heads protected by an enormous 
flat dish-like hat, which is braided out of grass and 
split bamboo. It is held on the head by means of 
an Inner ring and tied under the chin with straps. 
Besides this, large unbrellas made of oilpaper are 
used as a protection against the hot sun and the 
frequent showers. 

The men’s kimono is held together with a girdle 
four and one half yards long and about six inches 
wide. The obi is the part of the apparel that 
interests us most. 'To make the men’s outfit com- 
plete, there must be added, besides the koshisage, 
a thing that hangs downward from the hip, a small 


8 NETSUKES 


pipe with a tobacco pouch, a small medicine box 
and a portable inkstand. All of these articles are 
carried in the obi either on the right, the left, or 
on both sides, as the Japanese fashion neither 
knows pockets in our sense of the word, nor hooks 
and eyes, needles, buttons and _ buttonholes. 
Lighter objects are put in the deep bulgy hollows 
of the arms between the obi and the kimono and 
are prevented from slipping through by means of 
an ornament: the Netsuke. 

The word Ne-tsuke (in Japanese Ne- ae is 
composed of ne—root, root-wood, and tsuke—to 
hang, to attach. The spelling and pronunciation 
‘*‘Netzki,’’ which is used so frequently, is 
erroneous. 

The Netsuke, which remains visible on the upper 
part of the obi, is tied to a silk string, which passes 
a few inches farther on through a small button 
or a slider, ojime, and is tied as closely as possible 
to the object to which the Netsuke is attached; both 
are visible below the obi. The ojimes are made of 
sixty-four different materials and they are put to 
every practical use and executed in every technique 
imaginable. The ojime are now being collected and 
high prices are paid for them. Like the Netsuke, 


SSeS 
—S—S—SSSS——=SS== 





PLATE I 


1. Hole Manju, (Ivory). 2. Peg Manju, (Ivory). 3. Ash Container, 
(Ivory). 4. Two piece Manju, (Ivory). 


= 





USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE 9 


they are sometimes marked with the name of the 
artist. 

By its special use, and on account of having one 
or two holes to pass a string through, the Netsuke 
is distinguished from all those other products of 
Japanese art, which are of larger size, and meant 
for ornaments in the bedrooms, called Okimono. 
It happens occasionally that these little holes 
do not appear in the Netsuke figures, when, by a 
certain position of an arm or a leg, a branch, or a 
pilgrim staff, small openings are formed through 
which the silk string may be passed. 

The various objects which are worn with the 
Netsuke are called Koshisage, (hip appendix,) or 
Sagemono, (hanging object). The medicine box 
consists of one or more containers made of wood 
which are usually covered inside and out with 
varnish in different colors. Often from three to 
five boxes are put one inside the other and are air 
tight. Varnished wood is used on account of its 
lightness and because it does not break easily, and 
also because it guarantees the most perfect preser- 
vation of the restorative which is contained in 
the box either in the form of pills or powder. 
These medicine boxes, called Inro, with their 


IO NETSUKES 


wealth of form and color, are exceedingly charm- 
ing and attractive, and therefore the costly favor- 
ites of many art collectors. Apparently, the well- 
to-do Japanese possessed a large number of Inro 
with the accompanying Netsuke, which were worn 
as the occasion demanded; simple ones for every 
day wear, and finer, more costly and breakable 
ones only for special occasions. When not in use, 
they were preserved in silk cloth and carefully put 
away in drawers. 

The writing outfit (Plate X VI, 3) is made either 
of wood, ivory, bone, or other material. The long 
piece contains, in its hollowed portion, the writing 
brush, made of goat, deer, or badger hair, and in 
the part that resembles a box, cotton saturated 
with China Ink. 

The pipe case and the tobacco pouch are usually 
made of leather, but sometimes of wood, ivory, 
silk (for women), skin, bronze, shell, and other 
materials. Their ornamentation as well as that 
of the head and mouthpiece of the pipe are of iron 
chased and inlaid with bronze, silver, gold and 
other kinds of metals. Often-times, instead of the 
silk cord, a silver chain is used, and the Ojime then 
consists of a silver four-cornered ring, which is 


USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE if 


securely attached, and the Netsuke for the most 
part has the shape of the Manju or button. For 
many years the Netsuke has in most cases been 
identical with the pipe case (Plate X,4). A piece 
of very hard wood, or bone or horn, longer than 
the pipe, is decorated or ornamented with figures, 
and is arranged to contain the pipe. In the latter 
case, the tobacco pouch is attached in such a 
manner that it is visible from under the obi, while 
the pipe case Netsuke holds the tobacco pouch on 
the upper part of the obi by means of the silk 
string. 

Also the little bag for fire-stone and steel, as well 
as the tobacco pouch with lighting material and a 
purse for keys, money, signet and die, were carried 
in the girdle until the beginning of the 18th cen- 
tury when a kind of wallet or bag came into 
fashion. But in spite of this new idea, the pilgrim 
continued and still continues to carry his flask, the 
entomologist his beetle cage, the fisherman his fish 
basket, and the Liukiu Islander his dagger (Plate 
XI, 1) on the girdle by means of a Netsuke. 
Finally, a small box containing cosmetics is some- 
times carried, and by modern people a smelling 
bottle (Plate XIII, 5) in the form of a small bottle 


12 NETSUKES 


gourd. At times, a single Netsuke serves to attach — 
both the Inro and the purse. Since the beginning 
of the 16th century, the Netsuke has been the in- 
dispensable signet of the Japanese. 

Some Netsukes have been found that have no 
name carved on the underside, and which probably 
had been made in advance to be kept as stock on 
hand; and there are many that bear the family 
names, or the name of the artist who produced the 
object, or the name of the person who ordered the 
Netsuke, printed in heavy legible seal writing. 
Nevertheless, these signet-netsukes are exceptions 
as compared with the majority of real Netsukes. 
Also compasses, (Plate VIII, 1) ashcontainers, 
(Plate I), and flint and steels, (Plate V, 1), are 
made as Netsukes, so made that they can be used 
as ornaments with the purse or tobacco implements 
attached to form a complete set. 

A rare art object is the belt-clasp, a Netsuke con- 
sisting of a piece of bone, ivory, tortoise shell, or 
wood in the form of a C. which is used to fasten 
the purse, both ends of which either appear above 
and under the sash or are simply slipped on to it. 

In view of the fact that the Japanese art pro- 
ductions always have a certain practical purpose, 


USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE 13 


it is not surprising that the Netsukes in many in- 
stances are also used as signet, compass, ash con- 
tainer or flint and steel, pipe-case or baskets for 
miscellaneous articles. Some physicians carried 
Netsukes which were used to hold medicines, and 
others to contain a small writing brush. The well- 
known lacquered Box-Netsukes are containers 
for all kinds of pleasant, useful or ornamental 
objects. Brockhous has in his collection a Dutch 
watch case which measures seven cm. in diameter 
and which serves the same useful purpose. It is 
made of pierced gilded bronze, with a plant design 
border, and on the two surfaces are engraved 
Dutch landscapes. Its new use is very appro- 
priate in that it is equipped with a Japanese black 
and brown cover, which bears in embossed silver 
work the Chinese-Japanese signs representing the 
name of the owner, a famous wrestler. Instead of 
using the two holes ordinarily meant for the watch 
key, the original handle has been placed in the 
middle of the case. 

As the Japanese only learnt to know the pocket- 
watch for the first time in the 17th century, natu- 
rally a Japanese name for it was lacking. The 
author of the Soken Kisho (1781) describes a 


14 NETSUKES 


watch to the people of his country as a ‘‘ Netsuke 
which is worn by the Dutch people and is so ‘com- 
plicated’ that the cleverest of Netsuke-carvers can- 
not imitate it. Its ticking stops when it is violent- 
ly shaken. Instead you should hold it by you and 
play with it and admire its wonderful works. It 
is imported from a Dutch island by the name of 
Suzeriya, whose inhabitants are expert astrono- 
mers. The Frenchmen also manufacture these 
Netsuke-watches. Beware of imitations.”’ 

From the earliest ages until the present time 
two different varieties of Netsukes have been 
made: first the flat objects, and then the figures. 
These flat Netsukes are called Manju after the 
little round cakes, made in the form of a button or 
Kagamibuta, and are flat button-shaped and pro- 
vided with a metal disk. Only the Netsukes made 
in the forms of persons, animals or objects are 
described in detail in this book. Combinations of 
both kinds are not rare. ‘There are turtles with a 
removable portion of the shell to which is attached 
the string that is then passed down through the 
body. Dragons coiled in circles, and flat-curled 
snakes were made whose windings and position 
render unnecessary the making of the opening 





5 


PuatE LTI—OCCUPATIONS 


1. Wood Carver, (wood). 2. Cook, (ivory). 3. Women beating bolt of 
cloth, (wood). 4. Mother washing baby, (ivory). 
5. Fisherman hauling net, (ivory). 


, f 7 
r ‘ 
4 ) 
; 
Cal 
“ y 
\ “ 





USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE is 


through which ordinarily the string is passed, 
(Plate XIIT, 3). 

The flat Manjus can be divided into three classes. 
Those with holes, (Plate I, 1), those with pegs, 
(Plate I, 2), and those which are formed of two 
parts (Plate I, 3). 

The first class consists of a piece of ivory, wood, 
horn, or agate, executed in pierced work, bas re- 
lef or with sunken relief work on one or both 
sides. Hither one hole is made in the middle of 
the button, which unites the upper and lower parts, 
or two holes are pierced horizontally on the under- 
neath part. 

The Manjus belonging to the second class are 
made of a piece of wood, lacquer, ivory, or metal, 
through the center of which a loose nail, usually 
made out of the same material as the Manju, is 
driven. The head of the nail prevents it from 
sliding through the hole. At the point of this nail, 
is a hole or a hook for the string. The top or upper 
side of these Manjus is decorated with a bas-relief 
or an etched design. 

The Manjus of the third class are composed of 
two hollow disks with flattened edges, which fit to- 
gether like a box, and when put together form a 


16 NETSUKES 


button. On the upper part is a hook or eye, in the 
under parta hole. These are generally finished in 
gold or red lacquer, wood or ivory, with etched de- 
signs, lacquer relief, carving or incrustation. 

Many of the Manjus do not bear the name of the 
artist as they were in many instances manufac- 
tured for the trade. Nevertheless, among the 
second and third class, there are a large number 
that bear either on the inside or the outside well 
known names. 

Besides these Manjus, there are other Netsukes 
in the form of buttons. They consist of two parts, a 
round or sometimes a four cornered piece of ivory 
with a removable setting in the form of a German 
Thaler, and made of the same material. They are 
named after the round Japanese mirror. The 
setting is of decorated iron, in high or bas relief, 
intaglio, pierced work, engraving, rusting, chased 
work, damascened, and in silver, gold, incrusted 
mother of pearl, polished stone, coral, ete. To 
the setting is attached an eye to fasten the silk 
string, while the head piece is provided with a hole 
underneath to pull the string through. 

These are not made by carving masters, but by 
metal work masters who were accustomed to do 


USE AND KINDS OF NETSUKE Ly. 


work for the classes carrying swords, and who were 
in the habit of working in similar metals, in the 
manufacturing of knife handles, sword blades, 
hilts, ete. 

Two more Netsukes of a peculiar kind may be 
mentioned here, the small chest, for the most part 
Square with rounded corners which can also have 
the shape of a small ship with a removable cover 
and which, through the addition of eyes and holes, 
resemble the Manjus of the third class; and the 
Ash container Netsuke, (Plate I, 4). 


CHAPTER IT 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 


THE material used to make Netsukes is much 
more diversified than can possibly be imagined. 
The most important consideration, next to the pos- 
sibility of performing the work with knives and 
scrapers, is the density of the materials as well as 
their uniformity. 

From the vegetable kingdom are used: various 
kinds of wood, bamboo, gourds, thick shelled nuts 
and nutshell. Wood of peculiar forms, even uncut, 
or parts of famous trees under which, it is said, a 
hero has rested, pleasant smelling wood like sandal 
or camphor, wood coated with varnish, lacquer, 
and amber, peach stones. There are also Netsukes 
that are made by plaiting the fibre of the Spanish 
cane or of Wisteria vine. 

From the animal kingdom are used: Ivory, wal- 
rus tooth, boar and other animal teeth, thigh bones 
of larger game, deer antlers, buffalo horns from 


India, and antelope horns, which are used a great 
18 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES Ig 


deal. Narwhal tusk, which resembles alabaster, is 
also used and in the middle ages, the Japanese 
thought this was the horn of the unicorn, a certain 
remedy against poison and more expensive than 
gold. But the bones of unedible domestic animals 
such as fowls, oxen, or horses are not utilized. The 
domestic pig was, until very recently, unknown. 
It appears that the art of carving tortoise shell was 
introduced into Nagasaki from China in the 17th 
century. Imitation tortoise shell has, since olden 
times, been produced in absolute perfection from 
horses hoofs or horn. Even fish bones, mussels, 
mother of pearl, beaks of toucans ete. are used. 
Rare but highly valued are the Netsukes made of 
the skull of cranes. These are used for the Uzume 
and Shojo figures, the red spots on the side of the 
skull representing red hair. Some say that the 
material which was sold by cunning dealers as 
bones of mermaids appears to have been the lower 
jaw of the shark. 

From the mineral kingdom: Coral, soapstone, 
nephrite, agate, onyx, rock-crystal, malachite, 
silver, gold, copper, iron, glass, enameled or var- 
nished clay, multi-colored or painted porcelain, 
eloisonné, chiseled metal, tin, stained bronze and 


20 NETSUKES 


the peculiar metals named Shibuichi, Shakudo, and 
Sentoku. . These latter, because of their many 
wonderful rust processes, are especially interest- 
ing. The composition of the two first ones, accord- 
ing to Kalischer and Anderson, and of the third, 
according to Roberts, Austen and Wingham, is as 
follows: 


SHIBUICHI 
(Grey Rust) Per Cent. 
Copper: 2.) ae 51.10-67.31 
Silvery 220s Oe eee 48,93-32.07 
Golds. ee A Se ee 0.12-trace 
aeads ss 2. ee 0.25 
Fron.vn'y Mone ee a trace 
100.15-99.90 
SHAKUDO 
(Black Rust) Pattee 
Copper. vi. ¥ 5. on ee 99.04-94.50 
Silver'e ss Ske ae 0.29- 1.55 
Gold is ea 0.49- 3.73 
Lead oe 0.11 
Tron, ‘Arsenic: 40.5 22. acne a trace 


99.82-99.89 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 21 


SENTOKU 
(pale yellow bronze) 
Per Cent. 

RM CM en ns fA eS ae as 72.32 
Re eee ER aa oe 13.10 
Oy ES AR ee ea fet i 
I ie Osis oid ta bine see 6.22 
Reeroeiniemuth, Nickel 0.0 fi. ce. ee ee 0.23 

100.00 


Wood is most generally used for Netsukes. The 
wooden Netsukes were made long before ivory was 
used and the artistic taste with which they are 
executed is far superior to that of Netsukes made 
of ivory. The work is often finer, more sugges- 
tive, and warmer. ‘The finely polished old Tsuge- 
Netsukes, rendered very brown by time, are now 
considered by the collectors worth their weight in 
gold, whereas formerly, when Netsukes first be- 
came known in Kurope, the ivory ones were more 
valued. ‘*‘Worth their weight in gold’’ is to be 
understood as meaning that the price of a beauti- 
ful Netsuke very often brings in gold ten times its 
weight in wood. Boxwood is used for very expen- 
sive pieces. It is extraordinarily hard, yellowish 


22 NETSU KES 


and has such dense grain, that it almost possesses 
the properties of bronze. This makes it possible 
for the carver to attain high perfection in his work. 
Mahogany colored sandal wood, which is imported 
from China and dyed black, likewise gives wonder- 
ful results. The wood of dates or lotus palms is 
also exceedingly hard. The kernel wood becomes 
a dark peach color with age. This color can also 
be artificially produced by burying it in an iron pot 
containing earth. 

Ebony, which is imported from China, is also 
used. Mi-wa made use of this dense and heavy 
ebony, so that the Japanese consider it one of the 
proofs of the genuineness of a ‘‘Mi-wa’’ when the 
Netsuke sinks in water. But the Japanese are said 
to have a way of changing the specific weight of a 
Netsuke which cannot be detected. Other author- 
ities state that Mi-wa preferred cherry wood to 
box-tree wood. 

The carvers also make use of the wood of the 
Japanese medlar tree, which is hard and solid; 
oak, the timber which is used for the pillars in all 
Japanese houses. The ‘‘fire-wood’’ which is em- 
ployed in obtaining fire by friction has a very 
agreeable odor and is so perfect that the carvers 





Puate ITI—WILD ANIMALS 


1. Tiger, (ivory). 2. Lion, (ivory). 3. Elephant, (Lacquered wood). 
4, Wild Dog, (ivory). 5. Deer, (ivory). 





THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 23 


prefer it to any other kind of wood. That expen- 
Sive striped, veined wood of fine hard grain called 
Tagaysan is of Chinese origin. 

The famous carver Matsu-da Suke-Naga suc- 
ceeded in putting to good usage the natural spots 
of the famous water pines of the province of Hida 
without adding color. The light wood formed the 
groundwork for costly lacquer pieces. 

Beautiful old wood, which becomes harder as it 
gets older, has an unmistakable smooth polish and 
a rich color. This appearance of the wood is of 
great importance in distinguishing good antique 
from bad modern Netsukes. The latter, carved of 
softer wood, are stained so as to make them appear 
old. The easiest way of proving the genuineness of 
a wooden Netsuke is to cut a sliver from the bottom 
of one of the Netsuke holes. If the damage caused 
thereby shows clearly through the magnifying 
glass, it is certain that the Netsuke is not made out 
of heavy, hard and unstained wood. 

In former days the wooden Netsukes were 
painted several times, then covered with thin var- 
nish, and afterwards, to complete the work, beauti- 
fully polished. LHven today, gay-colored Netsukes 
are often prepared as in olden times, but these are 


24 NETSUKES 


of very inferior workmanship and are probably 
intended for children’s Inros. In order to give 
an old, dirty, dust-covered wooden Netsuke its 
original polish, it is sufficient to brush it thorough- 
ly and rub it with a silk cloth. For cleaning as 
well as restoring the lustre and also for the better 
preservation of a good old Netsuke, it 1s well to 
cover it with a thin solution of wax or varnish, let 
it dry for about two days, then remove the super- 
fluous wax with a piece of feather-quill and brush 
the Netsuke with a fine watchmaker’s brush until 
the original gloss is restored. If the polish dis- 
appears again in the course of time, it only need 
be rubbed with silk cloth. Another way to clean 
Netsukes is by rubbing them with a fine piece of 
cotton saturated with quick-drying linseed oil and 
then polishing with silk. 

Next to wood, preference is given by the carver 
to fine grained ivory. As the elephant is not native 
to Japan, it has been necessary to import ivory 
from China and Korea. Before the 17th century, 
fossil ivory from the Siberian mammoths was 
used. This is especially dense and heavy and as- 
sumes an even, soft, light brown tone. Ivory 
Netsukes of a later period, in order to give them 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 25 


a nicer and antique appearance, are artificially 
colored. Almost all the ivory imported into Japan 
during the last century was used for Netsuke carv- 
ing. Much to the grief of the archeologist, it can- 
not be denied that a great many old black-brown 
ivory Buddhas and Saints from distant temples 
have found their way into the hands of the Netsuke 
carver, who is willing to pay high prices for the 
best material. 

In more modern times ivory has been used almost 
exclusively, good and bad, brownish and white. 
Frequently ivory dust is mixed with a peculiar 
kind of cement, and pressed into forms copied from 
famous old Netsukes. Only an expert connoisseur 
can detect these falsifications. 

The outlines of hair, clothes, patterns and other 
parts, which appear as lines, are blackened with 
sulphate of iron, or etched with nitric acid, while 
green coloring is produced by copper vitriol. 
Vegetable wax is used as covering. Also the good, 
fine, antique ivory Netsukes are corroded or col- 
ored with the juice of berries, the colors running 
from light yellow to gold yellow. This distin- 
guishes them to good advantage from the cold, 
milk-white European carvings. Also the color on 


206 NETSU KES 


the front side of the object, which is exposed to 
sunlight or weather conditions, is fainter than its 
reverse side. Some artists, however, used ivory 
in its natural state. 

The cleaning of ivory Netsukes is done with soap 
and water. After drying, they are rubbed with a 
silk cloth and put in the sun, in order to regain the 
peculiar, transparent milk-like gloss. The very 
careful application of a solution of Viennese lime 
and spirits is recommended, which should be 
rubbed off after drying with a woolen cloth until 
the surface becomes bright. 

Almost all objects in lacquer are made in the 
following manner: sixty layers of fine varnish 
(from Rhus vernix) are put on a surface of hard 
polished wood, iron, ivory, porcelain, even mother 
of pearl, tortoise shell, or egg shell. Each layer 
is dried in an oven for from twelve to twenty-four 
hours, hardened and then polished with pulverized 
charcoal of Magnolia or Lagerstroemia. This proc- 
ess, on account of the continuous drying and pol- 
ishing, requires weeks, months and even years to 
complete the work. TIor coloring, the lacquer is 
mixed with colors such as cinnabar, cochineal, 
chrome yellow, indigo, or else the colors are mixed 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 27 


with the pulverized camel charcoal which is used 
for polishing. Gold lacquer is produced from pul- 
verized gold or from the pulverized metal of gold 
coins, which are composed of ten parts gold and 
two and six-tenths parts silver. Silver varnish is 
made out of pulverized silver. Oilis only used for 
modern lacquer work, as this liquid impairs the 
durability of the work. Quin mentions two hun- 
dred varieties of lacquer. The most important for 
Netsukes are the following kinds: red varnish; 
vermilion red varnish; black varnish; several 
layers of carved varnish, various colors; engraved, 
gilded varnish; gold dust varnish; gold or silver 
mosaic; gold bas-relief; gold high-relief; and pol- 
ished varnish. White and purple lacquer was not 
used until recently. 

It is a fact that the old varnish is so durable and 
firm that it does not sustain any damage from 
being left in water for a long time. After a ship- 
wreck in 1873, a wonderful collection of lacquered 
objects which was being returned to Japan after 
having been exhibited at the World’s Exposition in 
Vienna, was left at the bottom of the sea for a year 
anda half. When resalvaged, the old lacquer was 


28 NETSUKES 


found undamaged, while the modern pieces were 
but a jellied mass. 

The first great lacquer artist lived in 1290. It 
appears that at the end of the 15th century the 
carving of red and black lacquer was introduced 
into Japan from China. The carving of layers of 
lacquer one upon another, in different colors, is ac- 
complished in a most wonderfully skilful manner ; 
carvings of various depths are made which show 
the different varnish colors, the deepest cuts, which 
are made in a V shape, showing all the layers 
separately. | Netsukes which consist entirely of 
lacquer without any wooden foundation, were 
made much later, and to this present day are exe- 
cuted in a very artistic fashion. Lacquer Netsukes 
are cleaned with a cotton cloth moistened with lin- 
seed oil, which possesses the property of drying 
quickly, and then polished with paper or silk. 

There are also Netsukes in metal, very beauti- 
ful ones being made in pure gold and silver, as well 
as in iron, copper, brass, shakudo, shibuichi, and 
sentoku. Metal Netsukes can be cleaned like all 
other articles made of metal, by holding them for 
five minutes in a receptacle filled with one-quarter 
of a liter of hot water, in which has been dissolved 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 29 


a very small amount of potash. Then they are 
rinsed in hot water, until free of all dirt and rust. 

One of the most wonderful accomplishments of 
Japanese art is the use of different materials in 
one and the same object. On a fungus of wood, 
for instance, is a snail-shell made of horn, towards 
which a golden ant is creeping, while an iron beetle 
is approaching the leaflets of the fungus. Ivory 
heads and hands on wooden figures are not at all 
unusual, or eyes made of different color material. 
So skilfully and easily does the Japanese handle 
his material, that he even deceives the well trained 
eye of the art lover. A piece which looks like clay 
is actually varnish, and that which appears to be 
wood or bronze may be clay or ivory. 

While Europeans are in the habit of working 
from a model, a copy of which is always before 
their eyes, the Japanese sculptor works as a rule 
by free hand without any model. The best Netsuke- 
carvers were original workers. Other artists by 
close observation of the object which. they have 
selected for their model, were able to make repro- 
ductions from memory. ‘The Japanese artist ob- 
serves an object until he has memorized the out- 
lines, the dimensions of the parts, and the propor- 


30 NETSUKES 


tion of the movements, and finally completes the — 
work by free hand with brush, graving tools, 
knives or scrapers. 

It seems astonishing, especially to Europeans 
who are accustomed to all kinds of drawing para- 
phernalia, to see with what assurance the Japanese 
artist grasps an outline or a form and reproduces 
it by free hand, portraying every motion. He sur- 
passes all people of ancient and modern times in 
his wonderful ability for reproduction. <A bird 
flying, a bamboo branch moved by the wind, a horse 
rolling itself comfortably, are subjects which are 
apparently very simple for him to reproduce. It 
can easily be understood that, on account of the 
free hand work of the Japanese artist, thousands 
and thousands of pieces, neither correspond in 
dimensions, nor are slavishly imitated. This is 
evidenced by the fact that a few favored subjects — 
are selected from a large quantity and are used by 
different artists. In cases where generations have 
passed since the original was made, the artist of a 
later period who wishes to make a copy of the 
original, does not do so at the cost of his individ- 
uality. It is especially interesting to notice how 
far he feels himself bound and how he tries to 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 31 


change the object in order to make it look different 
from the model. 

The Netsuke carver works with fine steel instru- 
ments, in long handles, such as borers, chisels and 
knives, instruments as beautiful as those used for 
work on gold. Polishing is done by hand. That 
the polishing of wood did not exist in HKuropean 
art is explained by the fact that the high lustre 
which is found in the deeper carvings could not be 
obtained by this process. The roughness which 
remains after carving is first rubbed with dried 
horse-tail, then polished with the wet leaves of the 
aspera tree, and finally cleaned or polished with 
suk or cotton. Ivory, bone and horn are treated in 
the same manner, except that pulverized hart’s 
horn, is used to give the articles the desired lustre. 
Dimmed lustre can be brightened up by applica- 
tions of wax and hard rubbing with silk. Varnish, 
pumice stone, and linseed oil are not used. 

It would be a great mistake to take it for granted 
that the Netsuke artist can produce quickly and in 
large quantities. A Parisian dealer in Japanese 
wares, Philip Sichel, undertook in 1874 a trip 
through that country, with the intention of acquir- 
ing everything in the way of art objects that was 


32 NETSUKES 


salable. He succeeded in getting together an ex- 
ceedingly interesting collection of over 5000 pieces. 

Mr. Sichel relates the following amusing in- 
cident: ‘‘One day I approached a Japanese who 
was seated upon his threshold carving on a nearly 
completed Netsuke. I asked him if he would 
sell it to me when it was ready. The Japanese 
laughed and said that it would take me too long 
to wait, as he had at least another year and a half’s 
work before it would be finished. He showed me 
another Netsuke which he carried in his girdle, on 
which he had spent several years. It is true that 
he does not work steadily until the work is finished ; 
on the contrary, he must be in the mood for it. 
This is not the case every day, but only when he 
has smoked one, two or three pipes and feels re- 
freshed and well satisfied.”’ 

It is wonderful to see with what love and devo- 
tion and perseverance the Japanese does his work, 
and only at such times as he is inspired to work on 
the little art object which we possess. What feel- 
ings of joy and sorrow may have moved this sensi- 
tive man all that time, and what fate may have be- 
fallen him and his family. What would happen 
if the European sculptor only worked on his 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 33 


masterpiece when he felt refreshed and in good 
spirits? What if he worked his marble with the 
greatest concentration instead of being satisfied 
with doing the modeling in clay and leaving the 
execution, except for a small amount of finishing 
work, to his Abbozzatore? 

Some people claim that the good Netsukes are 
no longer imported from Japan to Europe, as they 
have also begun to collect them in Japan. This 
fate however the Netsukes share with masks, 
lacquer works, silk embroidery, silk cloth, por- 
celains, color prints, embossed works. None of 
the ‘‘trinkets’’ which were introduced into Europe 
after the revolution of 1868 have so readily ap- 
pealed to the public as the Netsukes, none today 
are as ‘‘saleable’’ as the Netsukes. 

One peculiarity of many of the old Netsukes I 
must mention here, and that is that they resemble 
pyramids in their form. ‘They have an almost 
equilateral triangular basis and three almost 
isosceles sides. A great deal has been written 
about this characteristic of certain old Netsukes. 

After having made a careful study of the sub- 
ject, Huish made the assertion that undoubtedly 
in an earlier period it was customary to make the 


34 NETSUKES 


Netsukes in the shape of trilateral Pyramids, the 
point of the triangle sometimes placed on top, 
other times at the bottom. He gives three possible 
reasons for this: First to prevent the Netsuke from 
slipping through the girdle; second the natural tri- 
lateral form of a figure in a sitting position; third, 
the natural pyramidal form of the section of an 
elephant tooth cut in several parts. | 

According to Brockhous, the three forego 
ing reasons are less sound than the following: 
Decidedly there has been for the carver one point 
of view that stands out above all others, namely 
that the Netsukes when worn on the girdle should 
show that side which is the most characteristic. 
Europeans scarcely ever see the Netsuke in 
connection with the clothing and figure of the 
wearer. But if you attach a Netsuke to a silk 
string and wear it, you immediately find that the 
artist intended only one side of the Netsuke to 
show. 

In olden times, contrary to the opinion of 
Huish, and also in the most recent periods, the 
reverse side of the Netsuke, which rests against 
the garment, has been cut flatter by the carver, or 
parts are left to project on both sides in order that 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 35 


the reverse side of the Netsuke may be made to 
rest close to the body. For the most part the 
triangular Netsukes are those which do not dis- 
play nature designs, but imitations of Chinese 
plastic models. Some of them are in nephrite 
which already showed the same characteristics of 
roundness, but which did not present any difficul- 
ties in making them triangular. The same thing 
holds good for Netsukes with a circular intersec- 
tion, which Huish likewise traces back to the 
roundness of the elephant tooth. To conclude, it 
must be mentioned that such triangular Netsukes 
are also found carved in wood, which material cer- 
tainly is not put at the disposal of the artist in the 
form of a section only. 

Another characteristic is that almost all the 
figure Netsukes are made to stand up while they 
are only intended for hanging. ‘The deeper we go 
into the study of Japanese art, the more we see 
that the Japanese never produces anything with- 
out a definite purpose. Why does he go through 
all this trouble? Why does he let himself be in- 
fluenced in the arrangement of the whole object, 
in the joining of the under-half, in taking into con- 
sideration the center of gravity, the form and the 


36 NETSUKES 


lines? Why are there pieces which apparently 
carry an over weight, and in spite of it balance on 
one point only, as for instance a running figure 
on one toe? Where the equilibrium is taken into 
consideration, what purpose have those numerous 
Netsukes which will not stand up? 

The possibility of producing a movable ivory 
worm larger than the hole through which it was 
inserted into a wooden chestnut is most astonish- 
ing, a movable wasp in a wasp’s nest, the movable 
fruit of a lotus tree, a movable head and a movable 
tongue in the mouth of a ghost and other similar 
objects of art. Presumably the movable part is 
made with a slightly wider basis than the opening 
for which it is intended, and placed in the latter 
after the wood, through cooking, has become soft. 
The opening, due to this process, becomes wider 
and then contracts again as it cools off until it has 
returned to its original form and size. Or else 
the movable article is made of a soft adhesive 
material which becomes hard through drying. 

In many cases it would have been very much 
easier to make the holes for the strings in a more 
visible place on the Netsuke. In doing it other- 
wise, one perceives the wise planning, the careful 





4 5 
PLate ITV—DOMESTIC ANIMALS 


1. Cat, (ivory). 2. Dog, (ivory). 3. Cow, (ivory). 4. Rooster, (woud). 
5. Horse, (ivory). 


ie 


4 Tee he, 





—s 
4 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 37 


deliberation exercised by the carver for a thing 
that may seem to the outsider a mere chance or 
casual occurrence. The reason of this is, as men- 
tioned before, that the Netsuke has a definite side 
which is supposed to show. 

The holes in the Netsukes often are not of the 
same size. The larger opening apparently is in- 
tended for the knots of the silk string. They are 
occasionally lined with ivory, or colored horn or 
edged with stone. 

The size of a Netsuke varies considerably, ac- 
cording to its fineness and elegance. ‘The height 
usually is four cm., but there are some that meas- 
ure only two cm. in height and others as much as 
fifteen cm. The width and thickness is mostly 
two, two and one-half, three and three and one- 
half em. 

Of the largest and broadest it is said that they 
were intended for the wrestlers’ (Sumotori) use, 
as these articles correspond to their large and 
mighty figures. 

The age of a Netsuke can in most cases be de- 
termined by the wear and tear shown on its sur- 
face or holes. There are many modern pieces in 
soft or hard wood that are very much worn out; 


38 NETSUKES 


and I have seen many that are old and betray no 
signs of wear at all. As the Japanese greatly 
value works of art, even while putting them to 
practical use, they handle them with so much care 
that an object used for generations does not bear 
any traces of having been worn or used. The 
daimyo, the warrior, the samurai, the citizen pos- 
sesses as many Netsukes as we have cuff buttons 
and pendants. They were most suitable for the 
then prevailing style and custom, and the finest 
were worn together with the accompanying Inro, 
etc., on very special festive occasions only and 
therefore retained their new appearance for a 
long time. 

However, worn Netsukes can always be recog- 
nized by the absence of the projecting and sharp 
parts which, when worn, had been very much in 
the way, and also by the peculiar roundness as well 
as by the smooth polish of all the parts. On the 
other hand, the dozens of pieces which were pre- 
pared for the European market showed parts that 
caught in the folds of the silk kimono. These 
were produced by workmen who manufactured the 
same subject continuously, and can be recognized 
by the ungraceful carving, if not by the clumsiness 


THE CARVING OF NETSUKES 39 


of the form and the poor execution, defects ap- 
parent at the very first glance. 

The old pieces can also be distinguished from the 
new by their color. The old wooden and old brown 
or brown-colored ivory must have that side which 
is exposed lighter than the side resting against the 
body. 

As Netsukes are very much in demand, the 
native dealers manufacture all kinds of figures 
and groups of figures, and by making the two holes 
in them, they can sell them as Netsukes to the 
exporter and the layman. 

A beautiful genuine Netsuke is not enjoyed with 
the eyes only; it must be handled in order that the 
charm of its lilliputian perfectness of form may 
have its effect upon us. Its polish enables us to 
follow, with closed eyes, the forms with the finger- 
tips, and so enjoy with all of our senses that which 
the artist has created in the most surprisingly 
delicate manner in this creation of boundless 
detail. 

It is true that Japanese art is seldom ‘‘monu- 
mental’’ or ‘‘grandiose.’’ But it is great in its 
wonderful perception of the most minute details. 
Japanese art therefore is very highly praised, per- 


40 NETSUKES 


haps undeservedly highly; it has been sharply 
abused—much too sharply. ‘The reproach that it 
is a short-sighted art, an art by short-sighted for 
short-sighted people, must sound absurd in the 
face of the richness and beauty of form which is 
displayed. Then too, size is no measure of beauty. 
If that were the case, then all the beautiful things 
in this world which the eye can perceive only 
through the microscope would be unattractive, for 
instance, a multicolored butterfly scale, or the soft, 
delicate lines of a diatom. 


CHAPTER III 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 


In 1614, the Shogun Kidetada delivered an edict 
directed against the Christians, that every house- 
hold must contain a Buddhist idol. From that 
time, the obedient population gave a great deal 
more work to the carvers of religious figures, there- 
by materially aiding a profane plastic art. Not 
only were the Buddhist Trinity, the four Gods 
defending the world against the demons, the 
Temple Guard, and the Buddhist saints and 
hermits made by thousands, but also life-size por- 
trait statues of priests and heroes. The four 
supernatural animals also: the dragon, tiger, tor- 
toise and phoenix were executed in bronze, wood 
and ivory. Although the phoenix often appears 
in embroidery, Brockhous never saw one in the 
form of a Netsuke. In the very oldest times, 
only Chinese-Indian saints and mythological ani- 
mals were depicted in Netsukes. Later there were 


added Chinese historical figures, Chinese-Japan- 
41 


42 NETSUKES 


ese gods of fortune, Shoki the devil outcaster and 
quadruped animals. Still later Japanese historical 
and heroic saga figures, Japanese writers, Ko- 
reans, Dutchmen, devils, and daily occupations and 
diversions of the Japanese people, masks, birds 
and reptiles. 

The Japanese artist reproduces the most insig- 
nificant objects of every day life. One Netsuke 
may represent the smallest insect, another a com- 
plicated event of the heroic saga of the Shintoist 
and Buddhist mythology. Like a carefree happy 
child he tries his skill, his patience, his fancy, and 
his humor upon almost everything. It is most in- 
teresting to compare what the Netsuke artist pro- 
duces and what he eliminates, what he often and 
what he seldom takes for subjects. Six of the seven 
gods of fortune are treated with a humor, with a 
lack of respect which is astonishing, but a Netsuke 
that represents the transformation of God to man, 
the Buddha Amitabha is yet to be seen. On the 
other hand, the merciful goddess of love, Kwannon, 
is occasionally produced. The artist likewise 
avoids bringing into existence the ruling powers, 
the Shogun and the mystical Mikado, for whom he 
apparently has a very marked respect. The 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 43 


figures of Geisha, or of the demi-mondaines, who 
completely ruled the color wood carving, are sel- 
dom seen. The pillow, rice pounder, rope, basket 
(Plate V, 3) and other household articles are rep- 
resented, but Brockhous has never seen the reli- 
gious symbols standing on the altar of the shintoist 
divine service; nor the holy glass, the emblem of 
the Shinto God Amaterasu, nor the sacred Goheli, 
strips of paper, upon which the divinity descends. 
On the other hand, one often finds the Chinese holy 
erystal ball which is one of the three symbols of 
the imperial power in Shintoism. In the Behrens 
collection is a Christ-like Netsuke, a Crucifixion 
of Christ, a copy of the figurative or plastic rep- 
resentation introduced by the Hollanders. Hart 
possessed a Netsuke of Ten-ko representing the 
portrait of George III in an oval medallion, carved 
from an English coin. Reproductions of reptiles 
and flying animals such as frogs, toads, owls, sea- 
gulls, wasps, octopus, crabs, turtles, rats, monkeys 
(Plate XII) and many others, are always to be 
found. From the animals living in Japan, the 
following are apparently missing: the mole, the 
bear, the otter, the seal, the walrus, the beautifully 
colored jelly-fish, the star-fish, the sea-urchin, and 


44 NETSUKES 


the proverbial crossbill. Roosters (Plates IV, 4; 
IX, 2), quails, and snakes are reproduced often, but 
the duck, salamander and the much beloved night- 
ingale are seldom seen. The cicada, the grass- 
hopper, the glow-worm, the silk-worm or its 
cocoon, and the beautiful butterfly are reproduced. 
Is this at all connected with the mythological, re- 
ligious meaning of animals or with their scarcity ? 
Of the animals of which the Bodhisatva regen- 
erated, there are used: the snake, elephant. (Plate 
III, 3), lion (Plate III, 1), antelope, hare, horse 
(Plate IV, 5), steer (Plate IV, 3), monkey, boar, 
dog (Plate IV, 2), jackal (wolf), rat, tree-frog, 
rooster, parrot, quail, goose, drake and the mythi- 
cal griffin. These buddhist animals are seldom 
seen: the lizard, peacock, partridge, pigeon (Plate 
XIII, 4), woodpecker, hawk or crow. 

The representatives of the Chinese animal circle 
have all been reproduced as well as those of the 
day and the night: the mouse, ox, tiger, hare (or 
rabbit), dragon, snake, horse, goat (or ram), 
monkey, cock, dog and boar. Among these there 
are animals such as the tiger, the elephant, the lion 
and the goat, which the Japanese had not seen and 
which remained long unknown to them, so that the 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 45 


reproduction of these animals has always been con- 
sidered as from Chinese models. The mytholog- 
ical creatures on the other hand, like the dragon, 
the half frog, half turtle, ‘‘the noblest animal form: 
a hart body, dragon head and lion mane, the sym- 
bol of extreme goodness,’’ have been taken from 
India through China and Korea. 

It is very characteristic of carvers in general to 
give preference in the reproduction of an object 
to its humorous and even satirical side whenever 
possible. 

In order to be able to judge which objects with- 
in his field of vision the Japanese carver preferred 
to select for his work and which he eliminated it 
is necessary to be better acquainted with the whole 
history, saga, and mythology of Japan than we 
have been heretofore. 

When we study the development of Netsuke 
carving a little more closely, we find at first that 
the big gap which exists between the productions 
of the so-called high-art and art handicraft, as it 
is known in Europe, has not existed in Japan. 
Both are according to their nature, decorative, or 
ornamental, the difference between them being 
more quantitative than qualitative. Asin Europe, 


46 NETSUKES 


the representatives of high art in Japan look down 
upon the Netsuke carver, the ‘‘artisan,’’ due to a 
prejudice which in Japan is even less justifiable 
than in EKurope, for the true artist and the 
gifted artisan are twin brothers, one of whom, 
from the height of his god-favored art world and 
exquisite taste cannot look down contemptuously 
upon the other as a ‘‘ working slave’’ with ‘‘coarse”’ 
senses. | 

Japan does not know that terrible expression 
‘fart handicraft,’’ which to Europeans means 
so much, nor does it know the meaning of it as we 
do. For with us, according to a clever expression 
of Professor Brinckmann, the expression ‘‘art- 
handicraft’? means ‘‘the production of unneces- 
sary ornaments,’’ whereas in Japan it designates 
the ‘‘artistic reproduction of useful and indispen- 
sable articles.’’ While on the one hand it has a 
deeper meaning in Japan, on the other hand its 
use directs towards development and upbuilding. 
This fact should not be left out of the question in 
judging the Japanese ‘‘art craft.’’ If a Japanese 
Mark Twain were writing on ‘‘art handicraft,’’ he 
would not find himself burdened with miles and 
miles of pictures, but instead he would have reason 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 47 


to complain of the fact that it is impossible to find 
even the simplest object without being stirred by 
its beauty and artistic form. 

In Europe, since the middle ages, painting and 
sculpture, in an endeavor to make reproductions as 
close to nature as possible, have far outstripped 
‘‘handicraft”’ | ut the reverse is true in Japan and 
in entire Eastern Asia. There the ‘‘handicraft”’ 
and the ability to imitate nature very closely is 
already highly developed, while painting is still in 
its first swaddling clothes. The latter remains 
behind in many respects, or at least its develop- 
ment is onesided, while plastic art and handicraft 
follow their natural course in their own fashion. 
In painting the most idealistic style, in plastic 
above all things the attempt to truly reproduce 
nature; on the one hand absence of sky and line 
perspective, the lack of light and deep shadows; 
on the other hand, fullest understanding and obser- 
vation, complete control of everything pertaining 
to drawing; on the one hand pure decorative sur- 
face work without substantial qualities, on the 
other hand the most complete execution and closest 
observation of anatomy and structure except in the 
form of human beings and sucking animals. That 


48 NETSUKES 


this is not a mere accident need not be pointed out 
in view of the comprehensive nature of Japanese 
creations. We have very good proofs of the pre- 
meditation shown in the artistic productions of 
those personages who at the same ‘time were 
painters, sculptor and Netsuke carvers. The most 
prominent names are those of men who were 
known as painters and at the same time as Net- 
suke artists, as for instance; the painter and sculp- 
tor Nono-guchi Ryu-ho and a Sumarai O-gawa 
Ritsu-o; further the painters of the Kano school 
and holders of the famous Hogan and Hokkyo 
titles: O-ga ta, Ko-rin, Yoshi-mura, Shu-zan, 
Shu-getsu and others. 

Even though up to the present day, the human 
body has received very conventional treatment in 
all the Japanese schools of painting, keeping more 
or less at a distance from nature with the intention 
of indicating only that which is supposed to re- 
present fantasy and to give free play to it, as in 
the life-size wooden temple guards (Ni-o) in the 
Kofukuji temple of Nara, the Japanese statues no 
more represent the exact likeness of a certain in- 
dividual, or a portrait in the modern sense of the 
word, than do the old Egyptian masterpieces. A 





PLATE V—UTENSILS 


1. Flint and Steel, (iron). 2. Coins, (wood). 3. Basket, (bone). 
4, Abacus, (ivory). 5. Broom, (wood). 





NETSUKE SUBJECTS 49 


smaller plastic art, namely the Netsuke carving, 
which is executed by another class of artists, shows 
a most perfect comprehension of nature. An 
anatomical lecture could be given over an ivory 
Netsuke six em. in height, which represents a skele- 
ton of Asahi Gyoku-zan. Characteristic move- 
ments of human figures (Plate II, 2, 5), like those 
of a dancing person, a blind man, a hero, a god, a 
speaking likeness of the face-expression of a come- 
dian’s mask are reproduced in Japanese art as 
they are in no art of any other country. Monkeys, 
dogs, birds and frogs can be found nowhere in the 
world equal to those of the Netsukes in so far as 
delicacy and striking resemblance to nature are 
concerned. 

On the other hand there are a great many Net- 
sukes that show no signs of a careful observation 
of nature. Gods and heroes, animals and plants 
(Plate XIV, 1), are made with more archaic 
roughness, and apparently undeveloped technique 
so that the original model is hardly recognizable. 
Closer observation of these reproductions not only 
shows defective skill but also an attempt at copying 
old Chinese as well as Indian models, and further- 
more, that this certain conventional style is only 


50 NETSUKES 


applied to those objects suited for the religious 
ceremonies of Indian or Chinese Buddhism, 
Taoism or Confucianism. For instance, the 
erane is always made in conventional style, 
the heron always in his natural form. Alse 
the goat is produced in a conventional manner 
as this animal had long been known to the 
Chinese artists who carved and painted, before 
it was introduced into Japan a relatively short 
time ago. Almost everything that has any 
connection with mythology, religion, saga, has 

its symbol in Chinese art—sun and moon, man | 
and horse, and tiger, tree, rocks and waves have an 
unchangeable type which the artist follows with- 
out thinking of making an imitation of nature. 
This use of conventional types is not the work of a 
people living in a state of nature who retain the 
stable, ordinary, current forms of nature in their 
works, but an intentional reproduction of the un- 
usual, the special and the individual which, 
through centuries and centuries of repetition has 
acquired a certain sacredness. This is shown in 
the selection of certain animals and certain 
postures like a steer lying down (Plate IV, 3), a 
hon sitting or lying with head lifted, (Plate III, 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 51 


1), a tiger crouching with his head turned back- 
wards. 

Reproductions from the domain of the old Jap- 
anese religion, Shintoism, are not made in this con- 
ventional style, nor are those intended for world 
use and yet, persons, animals and plants are con- 
ventionally reproduced when they represent illus- 
trations of old Chinese or Japanese fables. 

We can hardly determine the great beauty of 
the colors of painted Netsukes by means of 
analogy, because the wooden Netsukes of olden 
times, which were painted, today show only the 
traces of some of the most lasting colors. There 
is no reason whatever why we should not be will- 
ing to admit that the Netsukes formerly showed 
the same beautiful, harmonious colors, unsur- 
passed to this day, as the beautiful woodcarvings 
of a Harunobu or Utamoro of the same period. In 
order to be influenced by the colors alone, without 
being enchanted by the beauty of form, it is suffi- 
cient to put one of those colored woodcarvings on 
its head, and you will then enjoy such a harmony 
of color as has never been known elsewhere in the 
history of art. We may conclude that the more 
delicate colors and tones of Netsukes shipped to 


52 NETSUKES 


Europe have worn away through use, and there 
are probably some very valuable pieces in the 
hands of Japanese that show colors comparable to 
those obtained by wood-printing. 

The Japanese are not satisfied with exhibiting a 
statue, an Okimono, or a Netsuke on the side that 
shows when the object stands upright; they take 
especial care to make the side, which is to show as 
decorative and beautiful as possible without fail- 
ing to take the greatest pains with the work on the 
reverse and under sides of the object. They finish 
every side so completely and perfectly that no- 
where can traces of work be discovered. In 
European art, all the work is spent on the front 
side of the object; the reverse side must be con- 
tented with the poorest and most imperfect execu- 
tion. It may be that the Japanese does not always 
execute the reverse and under sides with the same 
care as the show side, but he certainly never 
neglects them (Plates V, 3; XIII, 3; XIV, 6). 

The necessity of representing the beauty of pro- 
portion is always either consciously or uncon- 
sciously before the eyes of the Japanese. This of 
course tends to give his plastic works much more 
charm. One thing that cannot be found in Jap- 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 55 


anese art which often appears in modern western 
art, is an out-stretched arm. ‘This is just as ugly 
as the broad basis of a figure with a narrow top, or 
the polygonal empty spaces between the limbs of 
certain figures. 

The mistake of our artists in attiring modern 
people in antique clothing, could not possibly be 
made by the Japanese. Neither would it occur to 
him—in spite of the Indo-Chinese representations 
—to attempt to characterize in an allegoric figure, 
a person for whom he has any liking, merely by 
giving him all sorts of attributes. In European 
art a nude man provided with a wheel can repre- 
sent ‘‘industry,’’ the ‘‘workman,”’ the ‘‘railroad 
guard,’’ or a ‘‘man-at-arms.’’ The characteristic 
facial expression for which our art is so much 
praised is in reality completely lacking when com- 
pared to the Asiatic plastic art. To the European 
a nude female figure,—unless the label or catalogue 
of the ‘‘ International Art Exhibition”’ states the 
contrary, represents a ‘‘Venus.’’ When provided 
with an anchor it represents ‘‘navigation’’ or 
‘‘hope’’; and with an apple in the hand ‘‘EKve.”’ 
A more or less naked man with an apple in his hand 
fee aris,’’ 


54 NETSUKES 


In Japan the symbol is in the figure itself, and a 
jovial figure of a man with naked stomach becomes 
a god of fortune or the children’s friend Hote1, 
the chubby-cheeked stupidly smiling face of a 
maiden, is an Uzume (Plate VI, 6), or the man 
with a high forehead personifies the god of fortune 
Fukurokuju (Plate X, 2; XIII, 4). The Jap- 
anese came very near acquiring also the intricate 
characterizations of later Buddhism, because the 
simple Buddha figure was introduced into Japan 
to represent Buddhism one thousand years after 
its originator, Gautama! 

The following remain symbolic for Japanese art 
as well as for Indian art; the vadjra, the wheel, 
the priest’s sprinkling brush, the dish for receiving 
the blood of the victim, etc. and Japanese art also 
adopted the ‘‘disciples of the lord,’’ the rakan, the 
Indian attributes (sprinkling brush, book, sling- 
shot) and the symbolic postures (hands folded— 
meditation, uplifted right—science, etc.) and the 
enlarged ear-lap of the Buddhist saints and the 
Deva. It is possible that the leaf-apron, the 
curling or long straight hair and the round wide- 
open eyes of the white race could not be adopted 
as attributes. But in that case they belong to the 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 55 


heterogeneous classes. The leaf-apron is not only 
worn by the Sennin but also by the taoistic spirits 
and the barbarians, as for instance the Tartarians. 
The Hollanders (Plate IX, 2; X VI, 1), as well as 
the Indian and mythological long-armed and long- 
legged (Plate X VIII, 4; X, 4), Ashinaga and Ten- 
aga have curly hair. Long straight hair desig- 
nates all kinds of supernatural beings. The fish- 
tail mermaid, the dwarf and the mad spirit, have 
round eyes, jwhich perhaps points to Arjan or 
Malayan, and possibly to Central-Chinese origin. 
In the handling of detail the art of the Japanese 
Netsuke stands way above the achievements of all 
other people. We also have had periods in which 
detail attained its full artistic value; we may say 
that the greatest painters, not only have not con- 
demned the reproduction of minute details, but 
have sought for absolute perfection in detail in 
contrast to the other artists of their epoch, who 
were also inferior to them in many other ways. 
Most of the painters and great sculptors from the 
Renaissance on, handle details superficially al- 
though examples of the contrary can be found as 
well in the Renaissance as among the Greeks. 
What infinite charm is attached to the small Jap- 


56 NETSUKES 


anese carvings which, although meant to be effec- 
tive from a distance, become doubly attractive 
when looked at closely. The deepening of the 
draperies, the pattern of the clothing, the texture 
of the soft animal hair, and the force in the facial 
expression which increases tremendously under 
the magnifying glass, strengthen the characteris- 
tics at close observation without spoiling in any 
way the effect from a distance. ‘The Japanese, 
like the Greek masters of naturalistic genre, are 
aware of the fact that detail is highly necessary to 
attain the ideal. 

The ideal of the Japanese nobles and warriors 
was disdain for sensual pleasure and increasing 
willingness for a fearless death; the ideal of the 
other classes, however, is joy of living, harmless 
pleasure, happiness on earth and in heaven. 

Just as the frequent earthquakes of Japan have 
determined its architectural development and art, 
and also possibly the use of the tough wood and the 
low building, so in its turn has this low style of 
architecture given its painting, its plastic art— 
with very few exceptions—and its handicraft, a 
miniature character. 

The Chinese have always been the connecting 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS 57, 


link between Japan and the rest of the civilized 
world. In the 1st and 2nd centuries A. D., they 
learned to know the Buddhist and Religious art 
productions in Gandhara, closely beheld the Greco- 
Buddhist type, and introduced it into Korea dur- 
ing the 5th century and into Japan during the 7th 
century. | 
In fact, Japanese sculpture springs from a warm 
love for Nature. One mark of distinction is that 
the Japanese sculptor, wherever he has his free 
choice, prefers the reproduction of motion to that 
of rest. No other people in the world have shown 
such keen desire for reproducing dramatic move- 
ment asthe Japanese. That Japanese art thereby 
enters into competition with the creators of the 
Laokoon group, is not surprising. ‘‘Motion, we 
fear, could prejudice the truth, and we therefore 
mistrust it as we do something dangerous, some- 
thing destructive. Motion is to be found every- 
where in Japanese art, in architecture, sculpture, 
drawing. ‘The artist resists rest, equilibrium, 
even lines, absolute order. But he is such a 
thorough observer, that he can analyze a motion 
and grasp phases of it which to us are wholly un- 
known. His object is not, like ours, to represent 


58 NETSUKES 


happiness, love, pain, belief; his element is fight- 
ing, excitement, comedy, tragedy,’’ (Ary Renan). 
The plastic masterpieces intended for divine ser- 
vice, which from olden times down to this day have 
represented personifications of peace and har- 
mony, are not to be overlooked in this connection. 
The self-less rest of a Buddha has never been so 
perfectly characterized in figure and countenance 
by any other Asiatic people—with the exception 
of the Chinese—as by the Japanese! Little or 
nothing is known in Europe about real Chinese art. 
One thing is certain, however, that all great Jap- 
anese painters and sculptors of religious subjects 
have received their inspiration from the old 
Chinese masterpieces of art in Nara and Horiuchi. 

It must be mentioned however that the high- 
born Japanese of our day looks at the ‘’art of the 
people’’ to which the Netsukes belong, from over 
his shoulder, or at least has heretofore done so. In 
his eyes art is only art when it inclines towards the 
strongly defined Chinese and Korean models. 

The Netsuke artist chooses the object which he 
wishes to make a reproduction of; a moment of 
occurrence which is eminently characteristic, a 





Puate VI—MASKS 


1. No Mask, (wood). 2. Man’s Face, (nut). 3. No Mask, (wood). 
4. No Mask, (lacquered wood). 5. Mask, (metal). 6. No 
Mask, (ivory). 7. Death’s Head, (lacquered wood). 





NETSUKE SUBJECTS 59 


pose which must be interpreted as the most pro- 
lific imaginable. 

Another peculiarity of the Japanese artist may 
be mentioned here. ‘Take a Netsuke representing 
a chestnut, for instance, upon which a little monkey 
is seated looking for a movable and partly visible 
worm which is hiding inside the chestnut. Both 
the worm and the chestnut are of natural size 
whereas the monkey is made smaller than the chest- 
nut, even though the latter is in reality thirty 
times as large (Plate II, 1). Then there is the 
Netsuke representing a man lying on his back at- 
tempting to hold with his arms, chin and legs a 
slippery eel which is twice as long as the man him- 
self, and if alive, would be about nine feet long! 
The enlarging of the chestnut, the worm and the 
eel has been done purposely. In the first case this 
was done to symbolize the gigantic amazement of 
the monkey over that mysterious something which 
is hidden inside the chestnut; in the other case to 
represent the tremendous amount of labor the 
hungry fisherman is undergoing in order to catch 
the slippery eel. 

An artist often selects an object that has been 
selected a thousand times before, or is within his 


60 NETSUKES 


circle of vision that fills the available space, or 
which can be most characteristically executed in 
the material to be used. But the execution is al- 
ways new. The artist returns to nature and dis- 
covers on a knotty excrescence which he wants to 
use, points of contact between his conception and 
the material on hand. He labors with incredible 
patience to correlate his material and his idea, 
using all the materials which are at his disposal; 
gold, silver, lead, lacquer, steel, iron and mother of 
pearl, to create leaves and stems, or water or birds, 
clouds or moonlight, sunshine or shadows, little 
men or women. | 

According to the object’s requirements he 
carves, now superficially, now deeply, at one time 
suggestively, at another in detail, conventionally 
or naturally. He works fast or slowly, polishes, 
paints, paints again and polishes again, puts the 
Netsuke in water or acid for days or months until 
it is ready, absolutely ready, not too little or not 
too much of anything, because, according to his 
own conception, ‘‘perfect execution’”’ alone means 
art! | 

The classic Japanese creations have the advan- 
tage over Western art productions in that the fight 


NETSUKE SUBJECTS OI 


for ‘‘the right to live’’ which existed in the West, 
as well as the fight for the ‘‘right to enjoy’’ and 
the consequence, ‘‘the fight of competition,’’ was 
not known to the Japanese. The Japanese artist 
works freely and only for himself, without giving 
any thought whatever to ‘‘cost of production’’ 
‘publication price’’ and the ‘‘ work time”’ required 
for the execution. 

‘I could probably create just as artistic a thing 
as a little Japanese art object’’ said an intelligent 
Huropean architect to John LaF arge, ‘‘but where 
would I find the time? Even more than that, 
where find the time to do the necessary study and 
exercises required for this work? All I can do 
is to project a plan, have it executed, and close my 
eyes over the result! JI should only be mildly 
criticized because I have not accomplished more 
than my duty. But doing more than one’s duty 
is the real beginning of art, and therefore every 
little Japanese art production is a greater work of 
art than a modern ecathedral.’? This judgment 
of the architect although exaggerated, is based 
upon the right idea. Because the measure which 
we are in the habit of using to judge art and artis- 
tic skill, is a false one. In order to prove that a 


62 NETSUKES 


work of art is complete, we must first learn to 
understand, that ‘‘rules of harmony”’ exist for our 
eyes as well as for our ears. Should these laws 
some day be thoroughly mastered for art as they 
are for music, then and only then shall we have 
found the way which will enable us to determine 
and classify the real artists of all times, and decide 
their rank, always in accordance with the degree 
of our instinctive following of these rules of artis- 
tic harmony. ‘Then will the Japanese Netsuke 
carver be given the place to which he is entitled by 
right. 


CHAPTER IV 


NETSUKE COLLECTIONS 


THE fast growing wish of the Netsuke collector 
to know the history of the objects of his devotion, 
the conditions under which they originated, the 
ideas they embody, and the life of the artist who 
created them, in our case, cannot be given complete 
satisfaction. 

There is very little German literature on Jap- 
anese art available, and none at all on Netsukes in 
particular. In the Western literature little can 
be found on the Japanese artists and the history of 
their life. Even the Japanese literature on Net- 
sukes is very scanty. This is partly because the 
Japanese considered the artist an impersonal 
being, who only lived within his work, partly be- 
cause the Japanese heretofore have had very little 
historical interest, and partly, because the Netsuke 
carver belongs to a class of artists and craftsmen 
for whom the contemporary writer had no interest. 


There are comparatively few collections which 
63 


64 NETSUKES 


were made by intelligent people soon after the Jap- 
anese art objects became known. 

It is to be hoped that more and more collections 
will be formed to guard against the threatened dis- 
appearance of these most important examples of 
artistic and ethnographic carvings. Not many of 
us can collect paintings by Raphael, but we can 
afford to buy small carvings which no land has 
created more perfectly than Japan. In almost 
every large city there are importers or dealers in 
Japanese wares, or curiosity and antique shops, in 
which Netsukes can occasionally be found. 

The prices which have been and are being paid 
for Netsukes have fluctuated tremendously. Many 
pieces show by their inscription that they were 
carved for an aristocratic wearer. Such patrons 
gave the famous carver a home and provided for 
his necessities as long as the work on a beautiful 
piece lasted. In many cases, this covered a period 
of months and even years. We know it to bea 
fact that some artists have been supported 
throughout their entire life. When Japan opened 
its gates to European trade in 1868, Kuropean 
clothes were imported, the Netsukes became super- 
fluous and great numbers of the most valuable 


NETSUKE COLLECTIONS 65 


pieces were sold in large quantities at most ridicul- 
ous prices. 

Among the European collections are many ex- 
amples of bad modern work. ‘The beginner, how- 
ever, will be glad if he is able to secure so-called 
‘*bad modern works,”’’ as he can in this way develop 
his taste and eye, and gradually replace the ori- 
ginally acquired pieces by good ones. But the 
really poorly executed Netsukes are recognized 
even by the novice. Occasionally Netsukes are 
offered for sale at a low price by dealers who, on 
account of the small circle of buyers base the sell- 
ing price on the purchase price which they acci- 
dentally paid for the object and not on its intrinsic 
value. A beautiful collection can still be obtained 
without too much cost, by buying at occasional 
public auctions from collections. 

The collecting of Netsukes is not rapid; it re- 
quires patience, time, and study. The market is 
overrun with rubbish, which one is obliged to ex- 
amine very carefully, in order to find perhaps one 
piece which will compensate him for the trouble. 
But it sometimes happens that a Netsuke is found 
which is signed with an unknown name, and which 
would be worth being worn by the Mikado himself. 


66 NETSUKES 


This is the compensation that is constantly beckon- 
ing to the patient colletcor and stirring his en- 
thusiasm. 

The first Netsukes came to Europe long before 
the time of the opening of the Japanese ports to 
Americans, and before the opening of the country 
in 1868, through Portuguese and Dutch merchants, 
who purchased a certain kind of Japanese lacquer 
work which met with the liking of Marie Antoin- 
ette and a few connoisseurs about 1780. 

As far as the arrangement of Netsuke collections 
is concerned, it is advisable to keep them from 
being exposed to dust by putting them into glass 
cases with glass edges. Dust fills up the holes, 
makes the raised work coarse, kills the gloss and 
takes away from the carvings a great deal of their 
charm. When Netsukes are placed together with 
curios, trinkets and other objects on the mantel 
pieces, there is danger of their being broken by 
careless domestics, swept away, or even carried to 
an unknown destination in the folds of a woman’s 
dress upon the occasion of a friendly visit. One 
of my Netsukes one evening made such a trip un- 
beknown to the lady who carried it through streets 





PLuatE VII—MASKS 


1. Bird’s Head, (ivory). 2. No Mask, (lacquered wood). 3. No Mask, 
(wood). 4. Woman’s Head, (ivory). 5. No Mask, (wood). 


NETSUKE COLLECTIONS 67 


and streets until she finally discovered it and re- 
turned it to me. The glass show cases in the 
museums do not seem to me to be very practical, be- 
cause they are too deep; they should not be deeper 
than about tenem. A case of that size will easily 
hold two rows of Netsukes. A mirror or green 
plush should be placed in the back of the cabinet. 

As a matter of fact we would do much better 
not to expose them at all, but follow the example 
of the Japanese who put them under lock and key 
like all other art treasures, and only bring them out 
occassionally. But then we must have friends 
who share our interest. The Japanese arrange 
meetings in order to devote, in a most ceremonial 
manner, a few hours to art and to enjoy together 
and discuss a poem, a sword blade, or a Netsuke. 
‘‘Shared pleasure is double pleasure.’’ Where 
this is not possible, we can at least awaken a super- 
ficial interest and keep for ourselves the real pleas- 
ure we derive from an hour spent in looking at a 
few pieces, and thus developing our mind and 
soul. 

A Netsuke collection can be arranged in many 
different ways. The arrangement, according to 


68 NETSU KES 


art periods can only be accomplished by those 
whose collection is composed of at least several 
hundred pieces. If there were in existence an 
art history, giving the requisite definite periods, 
schools and their characteristics, and above all a 
history of the artists who worked during these 
respective periods, such a scheme could easily be 
carried out. We could then separate the carvers of 
ivory from the wood carvers and others who 
worked with various materials, provided the same 
artist had not often worked with many different 
materials. But no such close connection existed 
between certain carvings of various materials, as 
exists between certain Netsukes made of the same 
material. 

There is very little occasion for classification ac- 
cording to motives. Many artists have restricted 
themselves to a limited field. Through compari- 
son with the production of a similar motive by 
another artist, we can judge to what extent the 
earver has attained perfection in representing 
nature and character and to what degree he has 
mastered the technique. Perfection in artistic 
conception, as well as the progress of an artist’s 


NETSUKE COLLECTIONS 69 


artistic individuality compared to that of his pre- 
decessors and competitors, can be determined only 
by comparison between work based on the same 
motives. 

It is a mistake to admire, enjoy and appraise art, 
works of art and artists when removed from their 
environment. We can understand and prize them 
much better when we know their connections with 
their home, climate and race, with mythological 
and religious aspects and historical traditions, 
with the artistic and professional, aesthetic and 
technical knowledge and ability of their time. 

A great deal may be learned by those who are in- 
terested in these peculiar carvings from the de- 
scriptions of Netsukes of which there is not a single 
one that is made without some allusion to Japanese 
life. It will give them an understanding of this 
branch of art and help them to develop it further. 
In these modern times in which art prefers to take 
as a subject the sad side of human life and even 
goes so far as to represent things of a pathological 
nature, the connoisseur of this Japanese minor art 
will all the more enjoy it when he begins to under- 
stand and appreciate that which permeates this 


70 NETSUKES 


art, namely: absolute contentment with one’s self 
and the beautiful world, the greatest peace of mind 
and ingenuous and often humorous conception of 
even the most serious things that exist in heaven 
and on earth. 


CHAPTER V 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 


In pre-historic times, prior to 660 B. C., when 
the first emperor Jimmu Tenno is supposed to have 
reigned, Asiatic art was introduced into Japan 
from Korea. From 33 B. C. regular relations be- 
gan between these two states, and during the first 
year before Christ was born, a decree was given 
out which was of great importance to the plastic 
art, namely that in place of the sacrifice of human 
beings which had been the custom established and 
carried out by the deceased emperor, in future only 
clay figures would be offered. As the Shintoist 
religion had no representation of gods, sculpture 
had been confined to the ornamentation of weapons. 
After the introduction of the Buddhist religion, 
oo2 A. D., the beautiful old wooden statues came 
into existence in Nara on or about 600 A. D. In 
749 the colossal statue of the Buddha was cast in 
Nara. In 794 the imperial residence was trans- 


ferred to Kyoto, the palaces were decorated, and 
71 


72 NETSUKES 


the dance and mask fashion adopted for the palaces 
as well as for Buddhistic ceremonies. This marks 
the beginning of the art of mask carving. 

As early as the 10th century men of high rank 
busied themselves with sculpture. Two of these 
men created a lasting reputation for themselves. 
They became the originators of a family of carvers 
that remained famous throughout the course of 
many generations. ‘They were Ko-sho and his son 
Jo-cho. They were descendants of emperor Koko 
(885 A. D.). It appears that the first prosper- 
ous period of mask carving was from the 10th- 
15th century. Under the Ashikaga Shoguns 
(13838-1573) religious carving declined. 

In the year 1586 we know that Taiko Hideyoshi 
sent an expedition to Korea which returned to 
Japan with many new clever and artistic sugges- 
tions, Chinese models and even artists, which laid 
the ground-work for another period of prosperity 
in Japanese art. But it would be wrong to suppose 
that these artistic suggestions and models were 
slavishly imitated. Even though there are still 
a great many archaic forms to be found, the pro- 
ductions of Japanese sculpture are executed with 
a gracefulness and delicacy hitherto unknown to 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 73 


the Chinese world. It is certain that Japanese art 
handicraft received, other suggestions from the 
south and the east, from the Malayan and Poly- 
nesian world. Like its earliest mythology, many 
emblems and ornaments bear signs of close rela- 
tionship with the traditions and artistic peculiar- 
ities of those southern and eastern people. 

Among those art objects which Japan exclusive- 
ly has created and developed, the Netsukes are the 
most important. While until the end of the 16th 
century they appear to have been made, along with 
other things, by mask and statue carvers, they con- 
stitute from that time on a special branch of art, 
independent of all other arts, as do also the older 
Ojimes. 

Brockhous does not share the opinion of Huish 
that the Netsukes are of Chinese origin, because in 
olden times they represented Chinese Saga figures, 
clad in Chinese clothes, and also because he came 
across one of these objects that was made of neph- 
rite. On the contrary, the characteristics of a 
Netsuke are distinctly Japanese and surprisingly 
original, and they overflow with the gracefulness 
that only Japan can produce. However, it can 
not be denied that since about 1700 there have been 


74 | NETSUKES 


Netsukes that give one the impression of having 
been of Chinese origin. There are many Chinese 
carvings made of ivory and nephrite which, by 
adding apertures, are converted into Netsukes and 
worn as such. In Soken Kisho mention is made 
of the fact that an art similar to that of Netsuke 
carving is called To-bori. But this means only 
- that the Netsukes in their perception and form 
were Chinese and that above all they represented 
the earlier Buddhistic objects in Indo-Chinese 
forms: elephants, tigers, lions, fabulous fantastic 
animals, dragons, sennins, etc. and also, peculiarly 
enough, the nude human female figure, of which 
the reproduction in Japan is indecent. 

The Netsukes are an invention of the Japanese 
and their production is limited to Japan. Neither 
the East-Asiatic people, like the Manchurians, the 
Chinese and Koreans, nor the neighboring Asians 
of Annam, Tongking, Burmah, Thibet, nor the 
Malayans, Micronesians and Polynesians have any 
objects akin to Netsukes, although they too fasten 
certain objects to their girdle. Only one other 
country in the world supposedly uses similar girdle 
buttons, and that is Hungary! ‘The Hungarian 
farmer who still wears the national costume at- 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES Nes 


taches his pipe and tobacco pouch on his girdle by 
means of a steel Netsuke. If it is true that the 
Hungarians are related to the Japanese from a 
linguistic point of view, could it not be possible 
then that there has existed, from primeval times, 
an unknown relationship between the Japanese 
and Hungarian Netsukes? 

The question when Netsukes were invented is a 
hard one to answer. It is certain however that 
they were not in existence in the 10th century up 
to the time which is represented by the famous 1m- 
perial collection in the treasure palace of Nara. 
It may be that they date from the time of the in- 
troduction of the girdle. If through investigations 
it can be ascertained when the change in the Jap- 
anese wearing apparel took place and at what time 
the girdle became fashionable for men as well as 
for women, it is possible that in this way we may 
discover when the people began to carry useful 
articles on the obi and at the same time something 
about the invention of Netsukes. It is said that 
the Kojiki, which is the ‘‘ Pentateuch’’ of the Jap- 
anese, mentions in one of its parts that the wear- 
ing of the girdle followed the publication of this 
book, on or about 712 A. D. 


76 NETSUKES 


The first Netsukes probably were made out of 
a queerly shaped piece of root, which on account 
of its peculiarity attracted the finder, who gave the 
object the name which it retained later. Also 
small dried bottle gourds partly lacquered, animal 
teeth and the like are supposed to have been put 
to this use ever since the early ages. 

It is said that the button was first made hollow 
on one side for the purpose of using it as an ex- 
tended holder for smouldering ashes which are 
carried outside the house for lighting pipes ete. 
Netsukes, however, existed before the cultivation 
of tobacco began in 1605. Furthermore, among 
old wooden Netsukes, Brockhous has never found 
one that has shown any traces of burns such as we 
find in the bowl of our briar pipes. But there is 
a special shell-shaped kind of Netsuke, which is 
used to contain the smouldering tobacco ashes 
(Plate I, 1). Poor men are said to still use them. 
They were called Suigaraake, which means ‘‘'T'o- 
bacco ashes’’ (suigara) ‘‘a thing used for empty- — 
ing’”’ (ake) or Hihataki which means ‘‘ Fire’’ (hi) 
‘fextinguisher’’ (hataki). These articles were 
made of copper, silver, cloisonne and eventually of 
wood and ivory. 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES Ti 


_ Most likely the Manjus (Plate I, 1, 2, 3), the 
smooth, flat, round buttons measuring from two 
and one-half to seven and one-half em. in diameter 
and one cm. thick made of wood, and decorated like 
a Netsuke preceded the figure Netsuke. These 
are most artistically made and in the selection of 
the material, work, color, and form suit the char- 
acter and the profession of the wearer and also 
match the decorated articles for which they were 
intended. According to Brinkley the Netsuke is 
only a further development of the Ojime, which 
originally was used to attach the Sagemono to the 
girdle. This theory that the figure Netsuke fol- 
lowed the Manju which was in turn preceded by the 
Ojime has much to commend it. 

The artistic preparation began in the 15th cen- 
tury under the luxurious and elegant Shogun 
Yoshimasa. As early as the 8th and 10th century 
some names of mask carvers were mentioned and 
it is not at all impossible that these artists had 
made carved masks of small dimensions, like the 
Netsuke masks (Plate VI.). At the end of the 
15th century, about the time of Ashikaga Shogun 
Yoshimasa (1436-90), the Netsuke was supposed 
to be used as a button to hold in the girdle small 


78 NETSUKES 


bags for flint and steel, writing material, small 
bags, and the usual inro. At a later date, after 
the introduction of tobacco, the Netsukes were only 
used to attach the leather tobacco pouch, the leather 
pipe case and the Sagemono. Since the beginning 
of the 17th century, Netsukes were mostly used by 
merchants and workmen, to attach their smoking 
utensils. Every Japanese smoked, but not every 
Japanese felt the necessity of carrying writing 
articles, seals or medicine boxes. Surprisingly 
enough, in Kurope the Netsukes are only used in 
connection with the latter. The tobacco articles, 
which are only worn on the girdle by men, are 
usually attached on the left side of the body and 
the Inro on the right side. The last named ob- 
ject, judging from its name (in-seal, stamp, ro- 
small basket) originally must have been a con- 
tainer for a seal, a key and also money. ‘The cus-. 
tom of stamping a signature on a document, in 
order to assure its genuineness began during the 
first years of the 17th century. Later on it be- 
came a requisite for the validity of all contracts, 
and from the beginning of the Tokugawa period 
(1603) all legal papers had to be sealed by the head 
of the family whether they concerned him or any 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 79 


other member of his household. Ever since that 
time the seal and pad have belonged to a class of 
ever ready articles used by every merchant, doctor, 
employee, etc. In the Kei-cho period (1596-1611) 
the same quadratic round or oblong form was 
adopted for medicine boxes as for stamp boxes; 
they were executed in lacquered wood, and given | 
the name of Inro, which has since been used ex- 
clusively to designate medicine boxes. from the 
beginning of the Tokugawa period, medicine boxes 
were worn generally by the Samurai, mostly on the 
Manju. This fashion was naturally adopted later 
by the other classes. In the beginning of the 18th 
century the Inros were being worn less and less, 
most people used them only as ornaments on cere- 
monial occasions. ‘This was very fortunate for 
the collector, as otherwise the beautiful lacquer 
which they still retain would have been worn off. 
‘*Southern Barbarians,’’ such as the Portuguese, 
brought the plant, which they called tobacco, into 
Japan about 1570, and the name was preserved 
there after the cultivation of this product had be- 
gun in 1605. Men and women soon were so won 
over to this delightful means of enjoyment that the 
Shogun Iyeyasu in 1612 was obliged to completely 


So NETSU KES 


prohibit smoking as well as further development 
of the cultivation of tobacco! But this drastic 
measure could not be maintained for long. Even 
at the present day there is not a single people that 
practises smoking so generally as the Japanese. 
Nevertheless they are not such ‘‘steady smokers’”’ 
as we Kuropeans are. ‘Their little pipe which is 
half the size of a small thimble only allows a very 
few but joyful draughts from a sort of blond 
thread-fine tobacco. 'The smoke is *‘inhaled”’ very 
slowly and blown out through the nose. On the 
occasion of visits as well as during shopping, the 
tobacco box and tea are presented. On the other 
hand the introduction of fire arms in 1542 or 1544, 
which brought about a greater change in all feudal 
relations than the cultivation of tobacco, has not 
produced any similar art. 

Women carried their tobacco articles in the 
girdle folds, but hung their silver miniature medi- 
cine box only on their girdle and attached it with a 
Netsuke. 

The oldest Netsukes still in existence date from 
the end of the 16th century. But Huish frankly 
states that he has not succeeded in finding any one 
who had seen them. Most of the Netsukes that 





Puare VIII—COMPASS AND OTHER PIECES 


1. Sun Dial and Compass, (metal). 2. Pear and Wasp, (wood). 3 
Dutchman, (wood). 4. Long-armed man, (ivory). 


— 





THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES SI 


are still on hand were produced from the 17th 
to the 19th century. 

It is impossible to predict what effect Western 
art will have upon the development which took 
place in the Meiji period. It is not at all improb- 
able however that the incomparable universal artis- 
tic gift of the Japanese people will produce 
geniuses who will surpass the accomplishments in 
art of the rest of the world, just as the ingenious 
masters of the Greeks and of the Renaissance 
period sprang from an art gifted people who sur- 
passed in their work everything that had been pro- 
duced up to their time. | 

As far as we can ascertain, the political and 
social developments of the Tokugawa-Shoguns and 
the demand for luxury by their successors, begin- 
ning with Iyemitsu in 16238, are the causes of the 
great perfection shown in the many art creations 
in which the Japanese have surpassed the rest of 
the world. ‘Their victorious course began at the 
end of the 17th century, with the Genroku period; 
painting, carving in wood, ivory and bamboo, wood 
printing, potter ware, lacquer ware and articles 
inlaid with gold, silver and mother of pearl, metal 
works, cloisonne, alloys of a special kind, swords 


82 NETSUKES 


and sword: ornaments, silk weaving and silk dye- 
ing, paper manufacture, ete. 

Political and psychological motives moved the 
Shogun of the Tokugawa Dynasty, namely its first 
members, to favor art. ILyeyasu, the first Toku- 
gawa, had definitely brought to an end the five 
hundred year war; but the wild, daring, war-like 
spirit remained within many who had spent their 
entire life preparing for war and fighting. It was 
therefore necessary to create some sort of diversion, 
and L[yeyasu who was one of the most thorough 
students of human nature, suggested the develop- 
ment of art for the preservation of peace. How- 
ever, he made certain rules which maintained the 
desire for war-like glory and ability, so that Japan, 
- after two hundred and fifty years of absolute 
peace, still retained its reputation as a thoroughly 
war-like nation. And during all that time every 
branch of art and literature flourished. This is 
the accomplishment of a single man whose like no 
other country has ever produced. The most beau- 
tiful things that Japan ever created and that show 
the most complete development of nature and art, 
are the temples in Nikko, which have been conse- 
crated to the memory of this man. 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 83 


About the civil relations of all these artists and 
handicraft workers, the architects of that period 
as well as of the present day, we know very little. 
Doubless, in later times, many of them were mer- 
chants, whose business was handed down from 
father to son. 

In earlier times, the artists had never been mer- 
chants or workmen by profession, but served in a 
princely family, from whom they obtained a home, 
clothing and support for themselves and their fam- 
ilies, also perhaps a little house of their own and a 
small garden; they lived without care for the 
future, without wants, without avarice, but only 
with their art and their love of nature. ‘The com- 
plete happiness with which they devoted them- 
selves to their art is the best proof of this. 

On the other hand, most of this history is incom- 
plete, as it gives only the names of the Netsuke 
masters. ‘They belonged to a class of people who 
were separated from the literary world, to which 
belonged the painter, but not the class of wood 
carver-painters known in the West, like Utamaro, 
Toyokuni, Hokusai. Up to 1750 the artists pre- 
sumably were courtiers of the Shogun, Buddhist 
priests or Noblemen, also men of education, breed- 


84 NETSUKES 


ing and position. With Matahei, the originator 
of the Ukiyoye, a new element is brought into the 
art, namely the civil artist and art craftsman, who 
work for fame as well as for money. 

Whether some Netsuke carvers had founded a 
guild or a corporation of which they were mem- 
bers, is not known. We know that there were some 
whose only profession was Netsuke carving, but 
that the greatest part of the carvers exercised their 
art only occasionally and in a dilettante fashion. 

That it was the carvers of the Buddhist cult 
objects mentioned heretofore who were the first 
ones to decorate the buttons which, up to that time, 
had been made without ornament, appears, ac- 
cording to Huish to have resulted from the fact 
that most of the Netsukes represented the figures 
of human beings. It is stated in Soken Kisho that 
the first Netsuke carvers were wood-cutters, who 
formerly made false sets of teeth from box-tree 
wood. Only two tooth technicians who were also 
Netsuke carvers are named: Ne-goro So-kyu and 
Kame-ya Hi-go. 

According to the book of Yokoi, it appears that 
the Netsuke masks were made by the same famous 
carvers who brought into existence the life size 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 85 


theatre masks, and furthermore, that the figure 
Netsukes were made by the same carvers who 
manufactured wooden dolls for children. 

There is perhaps also some relation between the 
Netsuke carvers and the Xylographers, to whom 
we owe the famous Japanese color wood printing. 
The period in which they flourished, from 1700- 
1840 and especially between 1765 and 1810, coin- 
cides with that of Netsukes. Consequently it is 
possible that the artist of the Ukiyoye period, con- 
sidering the similarity of the material and instru- 
ments used, created both arts. It is also possible 
that as Xylographers: they were known under a 
different name than as Netsuke carvers. 

Noblemen have also been carvers. The Japanese 
nobles were only hunters and warriors; it was con- 
sidered unsuitable for them to busy themselves 
with commerce or agriculture. But a nobleman, 
even a prince, who laid aside his sword to pick up 
paint brush or chisel, did not disgrace his title; 
on the contrary, he acquired thereby a brilliant 
name as an artist and lasting fame. An artistic 
masterpiece probably brought some men more 
fame than the severed head of an enemy during 
wartime. Any one, who, thanks to his talent, be- 


86 NETSUKES 


came a member of the household of a Daimyo 
(prince) might be knighted, and all those who 
carried two swords were placed on an equal basis. 
There are dilettantes, who on account of their great 
artistic ability are supposed to have been granted 
the title of a prince, such as Kami, or another high 
title like Kogen. 

There are families like De-me, Kiku-gawa, O-no, 
Shiba-yama and others, who, from generation to 
generation have devoted themselves to the art of 
carving Netsukes, although the bearing of the same 
family name, which we so often find, is the result 
of this Japanese custom of the adoption of a suit- 
able assistant by the master, or of the son-in-law by 
the head of the family. Once Brockhous came 
across the signature De-me Sha-chu Shige-mitsu, 
which means that Shige-mitsu signs as a member of 
the De-me ‘‘Corporation”’ or ‘‘Club”’ or ‘‘School.”’ 

Occasionally there are Netsukes which have been 
made by the joint efforts of two artists. 

The pupil in Netsuke schools was obliged during 
the course of several years to exercise himself in 
copying models by older masters or by his own 
masters, making from ten to twelve copies of each 
object, before the master passed his judgment on 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 87 


them. After about ten years of hard work, from 
seven o’clock in the morning until ten o’clock in 
the evening, the pupil usually received the privi- 
lege of acquiring one sign or syllable of his 
master’s name for the future, so that, for instance, 
the pupil of Masa-nobu can call himself Masa- 
michi. This transferring of names was celebrated 
by gifts offered to the master, his family, to the 
‘oldest friends’’ and to the servants. Then the new 
master returned to his home and opened a school, 
where were copied objects that he used to copy 
himself as well as his own creations. 

This perhaps explains the many copies of one 
subject and its innumerable minor details which 
have been made in the course of many centuries, 
although none of them were imitated in a servile 
way. In cases where it is impossible to ascertain 
whether a Netsuke comes from a master about 
whom it is said that he was the inventor of the 
object in question, they are not necessarily of in- 
ferior quality, even though they may be school pro- 
ductions. It is of far greater importance for the 
collector to know that an object is a perfect repro- 
duction of Shu-zan than to know whether or not 
that particular piece has been created by that 


88 NETSUKES 


famous carver. <A great many so called, marked 
and unmarked Netsukes of Shu-zan are in circula- 
tion. Brockhous has not yet seen one that was 
certainly genuine and therefore could be held up 
as a proof and vindication of his world wide 
reputation. A similar case is that of the Netsukes 
which are marked with the famous name Mi-wa, 
found among all collections. It is therefore highly 
necessary to make up lists of those prominent 
artists who at one time could only be insufficiently 
identified. The eleven most famous artists are, 
according to Huish; Shu-zan, Mi-wa, I’-kuan, 
Masa-nao, Tomo-tada, Tada-toshi, De-me U-man, 
De-me Je-man, Min-ko, Tomo-chika, Ko-kei. But 
one glance through the list of artists names which 
Brockhous has compiled shows that the name Min- 
ko represents five artists, to say nothing of the fact 
that nobody is in a position to prove whether the 
objects mentioned in connection therewith are 
earved by Min-ko or copied from Min-ko’s models. 

According to Professor Yokoi the most famous 
of all famous carvers is O-gasa-wara I’-sai of 
Wakayama (prominent from 1781-88) and the 
most famous carvers are: Hina-ya Ryu-ho (1595- 
1669), ‘Izumi-ya Tomo-tada (before 1781), and 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 89 


Seibe-i (before 1781) of Kyoto; Hogen Yoshi- 
mura Chu-zan (before 1781), Un-judo Shu-me- 
maru (before 1781), Hogen Hi-guchi Shu-getsu 
(before 1781) of Osaka; lastly Min-ko of T'su. 

We know little also of the dwelling place of the 
earvers. As Gonse says: ‘‘It seems that the 
place called Uji, situated close by the old Mikado 
town of Nara has from olden times possessed a 
monopoly of carvings. For a long time Uji re- 
mained the center of this product.’’ Uji is situ- 
ated near Kyoto, and neither Gonse nor the Soken 
Kisho gives artists who have lived in Uji, whereas 
it is known that from the year 1135 up to the pres- 
ent time the so-called ‘‘Nara Ningyo,’’ small 
wooden statues, have been made in Nara by the 
Himonoshi. ‘‘In the middle of the 18th century 
various artists’ studios came into existence in 
Kyoto and Yedo, which successfully brought to an 
end the fight with the older Nara. Ever since that 
time Kyoto has been the center of the Netsuke 
carving in ivory and wood, after it had been trans- 
ferred from Tokyo’’ (Gonse). According to 
Griffis and Brinkley, the most prominent Netsuke 
carvers are supposed to have lived in the three 
capitals: Yedo, Kyoto and Osaka. 


90 NETSUKES 


The year 1603, during which peace descended 
upon Japan with Tokugawa Shogun Lyeyasu after 
four hundred and fifty years of civil war, may be 
considered the birth year of national art. The 
first flourishing period of national art and also of 
the Netsuke carving developed about that time and 
lasted until the end of the Hoyei period (1710). 
A second flourishing period is the Shotoku (1711- 
15) to the Horeki (1751-63) period. Artistic 
creation in all branches reached its highest devel- 
opment from the Meiwa period (1764-71) to the 
Bunkwa (1804-17), which marks the end of the 
second period of Netsuke art. A third period be- 
gins with the Bunsei (1818-29) and continues to 
the Kayei period (1848-53). 


THIRD PERIOD 1818-1853 


The greatest number of Netsukes in existence 
were produced during this third period. Probably 
many carvings whose signature and form point 
to the 18th century, were only made in the 
beginning of the 19th century by famous, 
skillful imitators, and by pupils of earlier 
schools, who copied old models which were in 
fashion. Many collectors decidedly prefer the 


THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES QI 


ivory carvings of the 19th century to those of 
earlier periods. 

An absolute separation between the second and 
third period is hardly possible, but the end of the 
third period can be very accurately determined, as 
it coincides with the end of Japan’s exclusion from 
the rest of the world, and the introduction of 
modern European and American so-called civiliza- 
tion. Although the importation of Western 
articles had continually increased during the 
course of several years prior to the landing of Com- 
modore Perry in Gore Hama, in 1853, this incident 
marks the beginning of the enormous flood of good 
and bad articles from the industries, and work- 
shops of the Western nations which for many 
years supplanted the beautiful antiques of Japan. 
However, it appears that during the last few years | 
Japan has returned to the old idea of appreciating 
the value and the superiority of national artistic 
talent. The Japanese have gone back to their 
own art but without rejecting modern science and 
technique. When shorter hours of work and in- 
ereased cost of labor and materials express their 
Opinion, art always becomes more taciturn. It 
may be that the godly heaven of Izanagi and 


92 NETSUKES 


Izanami has. another conception and will awaken 
new genius to stave off the complete oblivion which 
is threatening this wonderful art. 

Reports on carvers of this period are yet to be 
collected, because tradition still has the upper 
hand with the people. If new Japan has acquired, 
with the other modern improvements, the desire 
for studying historical development, we have 
reason to hope that some day we shall learn more 
about this interesting class of people, and this is 
of great importance for the preservation and 
propagation of artistic creation among the mass 
of the people. 

It seems that since the middle of the 19th cen- 
tury the carving of Netsukes had begun to decline. 
Beautiful although mechanical copies of good old 
Netsukes are constantly being produced by the 
modern artist, in an attempt to fill the demands 
that are overrunning the market. Large decora- 
tive carvings (Okimono) are being made for the 
export trade. What the carving gains in size, it 
loses in originality and force. There are also 
Okimonos which could be called classic for that 
kind of art. It frequently happens that a decora- 
tive carving which shows at the first glance that 


“(poom) ysotrg “p *(Ar0AtT) “prryo pue uey “g *(Ar0Ar) 
‘10JSOOL YIM UvUIYyoOInNG *Z *([BI0d puB pooM) ‘aINSy [BoIso[oyIA “TL 


SHaNOIA—X] avid 





ro J 
eng? 





THE HISTORY OF NETSUKES 93 


it was not meant to be worn as a Netsuke, is easily 
converted into one by adding the two holes. I 
eall these artificial Netsukes: Okimono-Netsukes. 
It cannot be denied that the modern Okimonos are 
exceedingly attractive artistic objects. These 
modern carvings in ivory and wood far outdo, as 
far as gracefulness and artistic perfection 1s con- 
cerned, all American and European articles of the 
kind, that are produced at the present day. 

On account of the change in the style of modern 
Japanese society, a similar fate has befallen many 
of the other artistically executed articles that are 
of Japanese origin. Like the Netsukes, the Inros, 
swords, pipe cases, silk garments and satin dresses 
find only a very narrow market, since Huropean 
attire has been adopted by the Japanese Court and 
the fashionable world. With them, most of the 
art objects of the Japanese household have dis- 
appeared in the hurricane of modernism, engulfed 
by the irresistible though slow oppression of style. 
The beautiful lacquer utensils in the capitals are 
replaced by modern furniture of European origin, 
the Makimono and Kakemono by Western 
chromos. 

Brinkley, however, believes that there are today 


94 NETSUKES 


dozens of artists who can make Netsukes which 
are not at all inferior to the products of famous 
masters of earlier times, if they only had sufficient 
encouragement and could receive a proper price. 
Their talent is at present directed towards Okim- 
onos ‘‘but it is not to be supposed that they are 
a whit inferior to the old-time experts in concep- 
tion and execution.”’ 


CHAPTER VI 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 


WHOSOEVER derives pleasure from an attractive 
object of Asiatic art and is interested in knowing 
whether it is of Indian, Siamese, Thibetan, Chi- 
nese or Japanese origin, must not overlook the 
marks which are placed in such concealed spots 
that they appear sometimes as the decoration on a 
dress, an ornament on a torus, or even more cas- 
ually. Western art craft productions, except 
Keramics, never bear the name of the artist or 
artisan. It may be that this is due to the lack of 
individuality in the object, or to the fact that the 
European artist—justly or unjustly—is much less 
convinced of his artistic ability and talent than his 
Japanese colleague. 

Once his attention has been drawn to it, it 
appears to the observer that the signatures mostly 
consist of two or three signs, and that these are 


Chinese signs which apparently point to a Chinese 
95 


96 NETSUKES 


origin for the objects. In spite of this, however, 
the object is not Chinese. 

Up to the present day there has not .been pub- 
lished a Japanese-German, Japanese-Hnglish or 
Japanese-French dictionary that is arranged ac- 
cording to Japanese word signs. But even sucha 
dictionary would not be of any use to those seeking 
this knowledge because there is not available an 
encyclopedia containing the Chinese root words in 
sequence, which should not only include the verbs, 
substantives, particles, etc., but also the most im- 
portant geographical, mythological and historical 
names, names of authors and artists, etc. The Jap- 
anese artists however make use of most of the 
Chinese word signs to write their names. 

Another difficulty arises with the realization that 
the Chinese signs can not only have a Chinese but 
also a Chinese-J apanese and even a pure Japanese 
pronunciation. For example: the Chinese word 
shang chang in Chinese-Japanese is pronounced 
sho and in Japanese masa. Therefore an artist 
could be named Sho-ichi, Sho-kazu, Masa-kazu or 
Masa-ichi. But as we shall see an artist can have 
two, four, six, to eight different names. He can 
at one time use the Chinese signs, at another time 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES Q7 


the Japanese writings Katakana or Hiragana, or 
even make use of a certain kind of stenography. 

We may thereby conclude that it is necessary to 
learn the Chinese and at the same time various 
classes of Japanese word signs, if we are trying to 
determine the name of the artist, which is the first 
step towards investigating the connections of cer- 
tain Netsukes, schools and styles. 

The Japanese writing partly consists of word 
writing and partly of syllable writing. The for- 
mer is identical with the Chinese in meaning but 
not in pronounciation, as the signs always indicate 
one idea; the latter is derived from the Chinese lan- 
guage, each sign signifying only one syllable. The 
expression ‘‘word writing’’ in connection with 
Chinese writing is not quite correct, because the 
single signs stand for more than our words. The 
Chinese signs rather resemble the word roots of 
the EKuropean langauges that scatter their roots 
and branches in all directions. The Japanese 
syllable writing is again divided into two distinct 
kinds, namely the Katakana and Hiragana. For 
seventy-three syllables the Katakana writing pro- 
vides forty-seven and with the deviations one hun- 
dred and eighty-eight signs, while the Hiragana, 


Qs NETSUKES 


which is more or less of an abbreviated italic type 
writing, has one hundred and forty-five signs. The 
latter presents special difficulty in that the separat- 
ing or joining together of the syllables of a word 
is arbitrary, while it is perfectly permissible to 
join syllables that do not belong together. 

It is a well known fact that all Chinese and Jap- 
anese writing is read from the top downward, and 
that the lines run from right to left. If only the 
Japanese, after having discovered syllable writing, 
had thrown aside the Chinese signs, then the J ap- 
anese language would not be so difficult to learn. 
Both the syllable writings are used in most books 
only as auxiliary signs and as such are used be- 
tween or to the right of the Chinese signs, and also 
to mark the pronunciation of proper names. All 
these writings appear in connection with Netsukes, 
as well as a whole string of very difficult abbrevia- 
tions. 

The reading of a Japanese name written in 
Chinese writing, is done in the following manner: 
first of all it is necessary to distinguish the two 
hundred and fourteen class and expression signs 
of the Chinese language, the so-called radicals, and 
their sequence, from which the Chinese vocabulary 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 99 


has been arranged. These signs are often very 
similar to one another. If the sign itself does not 
form a part of the radical, we must find out to 
which radical it actually belongs. This is not as 
easy aS it appears tobe. ‘Then, in accordance with 
certain rules you count the strokes which the sign 
has outside of those making up the radical, and 
look in a Chinese-Japanese dictionary under the 
radical, in order to finally locate the sign among the 
two thousand three hundred and fifty mostly used, 
or the forty thousand more seldom used, or the 
forty thousand most seldom used signs, together 
' with the Japanese translation and pronunciation. 
Indeed, you may look in vain amongst the eighty 
thousand signs. 

In the first place the sign or syllable, as has al- 
ready been mentioned, can have the most manifold 
meanings and pronunciations. A sign can be 
read as follows: sei, sho, uni, ara, ike, iki, 01, 
hae, nama, iku, ayaniku, uzu, mana, nari, kizaki, 
etc. In accordance with the order of the words and 
their connection, or according to whether the word 
in question originates from literature, history, 
geography, art, theatre, fairy stories, ete. What 
would a person do, if one of his artist friends for 


100 NETSUKES 


instance placed before him a No album with the 
friendly request to read and translate for him the 
Japanese-Chinese annotations contained therein ? 
Would he confess that far from being able to un- 
derstand half of it, he cannot even read the words? 
Our letter writing is easy to learn, and anybody 
may be able to read aloud fluently to a Japanese a 
book on mathematics without himself understand- 
ing any of its contents. This is not the case with 
Chinese-Japanese. The word signs, expression 
signs and syllable signs have a different expression 
and meaning, when they are used in connection 
with different sciences, and in such eases can only 
be read when they are understood and visa versa. 
They may perhaps be compared with our scientific 
abbreviations and our technical trade expressions. 
For instance, with us the latin letter R. on a map 
of Canada stands for river, in a work of botany it 
may mean ranunculus. While a university man 
can deduce that the word ‘‘cinquecento’’ has some- 
thing to do with the number five hundred, he will 
not be able to explain, even though he may have 
a knowledge of art history, how it is that this word 
is to be interpreted as the renaissance of the 16th 
eentury A.D. ‘‘Madonna Sistina’’ is, not for the 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES IOT 


artistic mind, but for the philological mind an en- 
tirely enigmatical expression. 

In our world, abbreviations like the afore-men- 
tioned ‘*R’’ are mostly limited to special works or 
maps of foreign countries; it cannot be expected 
that the greater masses of educated people under- 
stand them; ‘‘Cinquecento’’ and ‘‘Madonna Sis- 
tina’’ only count for those people who have been 
educated in the history of art. Words written the 
same way and having the same pronunciation, but 
with a different meaning, and words with the same 
spelling but with a different pronunciation and 
different meaning, exist in our vocabulary and as 
in the Japanese language, they are the subject of 
jokes, picture puzzles, etc. An example of the first 
class is as follows: (German) Reif = ring, Reif = 
hoar-frost, reif = the opposite of not ripe; and an 
example of the second class is the following: (Ger- 
man) der Dachs (meaning an animal, nominative 
ease, des Dachs (genitive of das Dachs) (Mean- 
ing Roof). We could not tell the Japanese what 
the meaning of Reif and Dachs is, when these 
and similar words are presented for translation 
into Japanese, without there being anything to in- 


102 NETSUKES 


dicate in what sense they are to be used. While 
the words with a double sense in the European 
languages represent exceptions, we may safely say 
that they constitute the rule in the Japanese lan- 
guage. Asa proof of this, it is sufficient to men-— 
tion that there are very few root words in the Jap- 
anese dictionary that have only one way of 
spelling, one pronunciation and only one meaning. 

Unfortunately the difficulties do not end here. 
For each syllable may not only be written in Hira- 
gana, Katakana and Chinese-Japanese, but in the 
last analysis it may be written in many other ways: 
in ordinary Kaisho printing (three kinds) in 
Sosho script, italics (three kinds) in Gyosho 
(round, three kinds) and more seldom in 'T'ensho 
(Fancy writing for inscriptions and stamps, five 
kinds) as well as Reisho (Book title writing, many 
kinds, an abbreviated Tensho), a total of about 
twenty different kinds of writing. 

We may conclude from this that the words sho 
or masa can be written with four Japanese and 
twelve Chinese-Japanese signs, and that the twelve 
Chinese-Japanese signs can be represented by 
about twenty different kinds, so that it is necessary 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 103 


to know two hundred and forty-four signs in order 
to be able to read sho or masa alone. 

The variety in pronunciation and the very 
marked deviations which occur sometimes in the 
different kinds of writing, are shown by the fol- 
lowing examples: 


Pure Jap- Japanese- 

anese Pro- Chinese Pro- Writing Writing 
-nuneiation nunciation. 

KUN: On 

tomo yu Kaisho Tensho 

yoshi ka Sosho Reisho 

yatsu hachi Reisho Kaisho 

tada chu Sosho Tensho 

tatsu ryu Sosho Kaisho 

hayashi rin Tensho Reisho 

shige ju Gyosho Kaisho 


From the word hayashi (woods) you can see how 
a part of the Chinese expression sign has origin- 
ated, namely from an image of the object expressed 
by the word. The sign represents two trees. One 


104 NETSUKES 


syllable may also have many different meanings. 
The syllable min for instance means: people, pearl, 
to sleep; the syllable ko or ko: tiger, river, shiny, 
hard, red, broad, old, sea, filial devotion, plants, 
happiness, high and well born, trade. If one hap- 
pened to come across an artist in Hurope by the 
name of Min-ko, it would be hard to tell whether 
it is written Min-ko or Minko, as long as the 
Chinese word sign is not given together with the 
pronunciation. Neither can it be ascertained 
whether ten Netsukes marked with the name Min- 
ko have been produced by two, three, five or ten 
artists of that name, or whether they have been 
carved by one and the same person; whether the 
gentleman in question is named shiny pearl, or 
red people, or sleeping tiger, or whether he has for- 
merly borne the three names one after the other. 
For artists whose names are composed with the 
syllable ryo, ryo or ryu, Brockhous has found six- 
teen different forms with the following meanings 
attached to them: note, price, good, big hill, endure, 
pavilion, vice commissioner, edge, silk damask, 
dragon, corn, river, prosperity, six, pasture and to 
stand. 

In writing the Japanese can understand the 





Puate X—PIPE-CASE AND OTHER FIGURES 


1. Men washing horse, (ivory). 2. Fukurokuju, (wood). 3. Flintlock 
gun, (wood and metal). 4. Pipe case, (wood and bone). 





ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 105 


Chinese, and visa versa (provided the Japanese 
uses the Chinese word arrangement) ; in speaking 
_ however, this is not the case. It requires seven 
years for a Japanese schoolboy to learn how to 
read; the European layman can eliminate all of 
this difficulty right from the beginning. For the 
collector, however, nothing remains but to turn for 
help to a European sinologist who does not under- 
stand the first thing about Japanese art, art handi- 
eraft or trade, or call upon a Japanese who must 
be an art historian before he is able to do as much 
as pronounce the proposed name. It so happens 
that the names of these same Netsuke carvers in 
Western literature, can be read Taka-mitsu or 
Jo-man, Suke-mitsu or U-man, Nori-zane or Ho- 
jitsu, Kazu-tora or I’-ko, whereas they should be 
read as being the names of one famous carver 
named Min-ko, while there are certainly at least 
seven artists with the same sounding name, who 
write their names in different ways. In all this 
Brockhous has not taken into consideration the 
many typographical errors appearing in the Euro- 
pean works, nor the fact that many carvers who 
were only partly educated or not educated at all, 
have been misled by the similarity of sound of the 


106 NETSUKES 


syllables and have made use of erroneous and part- 
ly nonsensical signs to write their names. 

It must also be said that many Japanese syllables 
are pronounced differently in the Easterly, West- 
erly, Northerly and Southerly provinces of Japan. 
The same syllable has been transcribed into Euro- 
pean books in many different ways, according 
to the province from which the Japanese comes 
who may be assisting the European with advice, 
according to the degree of his philological accuracy 
or his literary and artistic education. 

The greatest confusion exists in European It- 
erature for the reading and writing of names, due 
to the fact that the European nations carry out 
their own method of transcribing foreign sounds, 
and also because no distinction is made in the 
printing of the same, between the short and long 
syllables such as ho and hd, ko and ko, kyo and kyo 
and others, and because the syllables are not given 
disjointed. 

As previously stated, when Chinese writing is 
utilized for the writing of proper names, they can 
be read either in Japanese-Chinese or in pure 
Japanese. The Japanese-Chinese pronunciation 
which has originated in China, is named On, and 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 107 


is divided again into Goon, the pronunciation from 
Southerly China, and Kanon the more elegant pro- 
nunciation from Northerly China. The pure Jap- 
anese pronunciation is Kun or Yomi. Sometimes 
the first, at other times the second reading is cor- 
rect, (example: Shu-zan and not Aki-yama) ; 
and when there happens to be a Buddhist pronun- 
ciation of the word, as frequently occurs in the 
divine service, literature and art of Buddhism, the 
pronunciation corresponding to Goon is correct 
(ex: Ho-gen and not Ho-gan). 

It also happens that the pronunciation of one 
sign of the name is Japanese-Chinese and the other 
Japanese, in which case it seems quite probable 
that both signs of the name are pronounced in Jap- 
anese-Chinese or in J apanese. Certain termina- 
tions like sai, which appears so often, indicate that 
the syllables preceding them are to be read in Jap- 
anese-Chinese. On the other hand, the names are 
again pronounced differently, according to whether 
they represent family names, first names, or 
artist’s names, of all of which the European has no 
knowledge and which consequently add greatly to 
the already existing confusion—or according to 


108 NETSUKES 


the unknown pronunciation to which the bearer of 
the name has given preference. 

Although a student of the Japanese language 
must know something about proper names, Cham- 
berlain advises him not to enter into this too deep- 
ly. This is sound for the simple reason that time 
and effort can be put to a much more profitable 
use. They are the outgrowth of the Japanese 
graphic system and frequently an enigma for the 
Japanese himself. A striking proof of this was 
offered at the opening of the Japanese Parliament 
in 1889. One of the first motions adopted men- 
tioned that the names should not be read and pro- 
nounced as the bearer of the same had been accus- 
tomed to pronounce them heretofore, but after the 
ordinary Chinese-Japanese pronunciation of the 
end syllables which form the names. Thus: Mr. 
Kazu-masa would be named I’-sei, Mr. Tsuyoshi, 
Mr. Ki. A close study of what the Japanese Par- 
liament disclaims can be best put off by a foreigner 
to a better time. 

If we adopted this plan for our use, we would 
not make the slightest progress. If we desire to 
orientate ourselves in the most elementary manner 
on artists and art schools, we must go a little fur- 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 10g 


ther into the subject and learn as much about it as 
is possible for the foreigner to do, just as is done 

in the following accounts as well as in the list of 
-artist’s names and word signs. 

The greatest difficulty, not only for the arrange- 
ment of names, but also for the identification of the 
artists themselves, is caused by the large number 
of names which the Japanese have in general, and 
the still larger number of names of the Japanese 
artists in particular. 

It is to be pointed out that, like the European, 
the Japanese names mostly consist of from two to 
three parts (i.e. Friede-rike, Gott-lieb). Another 
similarity with Europe consists in that the Jap- 
anese have at all times had three names, as the 
Romans had nomen to designate the race (Tullius), 
cognomen for the family name (Cicero) and prae- 
nomen for the individual (Marcus). To these were 
occasionally added, as a result of having achieved 
great acts, or of adoption, etc. a fourth name, 
agnomen (Africanus, Conctator). Exactly the 
same thing exists in Japan. 

As in Germany where the family names of the 
nobility have only been in existence since the 12th 
century, and those of the commoners only since the 


I1O NETSUKES 


14th century, both having been in general use for 
the past 300-400 years, while prior to that time the 
first name was used, to which sometimes was added 
the descent of the bearer, a place other than his 
residence (i.e. Wolfram von Eschenbach, Walter 
von de Vogelweide, etc.), the name of a property 
situated in a certain town or village, or the name 
of a castle; so has Japan adopted this custom, 
probably during the Taira period, 931-1183. The 
Japanese family name which is not used by the 
ordinary classes any more than the clan names, 
originally indicated the birth place or residence, as 
for instance Yamamoto: ‘‘ Foot of the mountain.”’ 
The first name is not necessarily carried through 
one’s entire life, but is changed with the greatest 
ease at each turning point of a person’s life, either 
because the individual is adopted, or severs his 
adoption—a prevailing Japanese custom—and for 
many other reasons. JPlaces and localities also 
change names as for instance: the capital of the 
country which was formerly named Yedo, is now 
called Tokyo. 

The first name, however, is the one which really 
characterizes the Japanese artist, as was the cus- 
tom in Ancient Greece. Just as in Europe where 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES [11 


a painting of Raphael is identified under that name 
and not his family name which is Sanzio, where a 
book of Aldus is marked with his first name instead 
of Manuzzi, so is the first name of the Japanese 
artist used to mark his works, the difference being 
that the Japanese artist has two such first names: 
a general name (zokumyo, tsusho, yobina) and a 
real name (nanori or jitsumyo), which he receives 
when he is fifteen years old. The general names 
terminate with taro, oldest son; jiro, second son, or 
with yemon, suke, nojo, bei, former official posi- 
tions. The real names like Masashige, Yoshisada, 
are only applied on festive occasions together with 
the clan names. The clan name (uji or sei) in all 
probability traces its origin back to the assem- 
blages of the Yamato tribes who came from the 
Southwest and whose successors have produced the 
great part of the Japanese population of today. 
Uji points to the generical connection. This name 
was used exclusively until the increasing power of 
the families of the lords of a manor was handed 
down to form other branches among the younger 
sons who, next to the generical name also had a 
special family name. ‘This clan name was later 
given to a Japanese to show that he descended from 


112 NETSU KES 


a certain ancestor whose religion he was obliged to 
follow, a rule which continues to hold good under 
the constitution of February 11, 1889, and also 
under the new Japanese Civil Code of July 16, 
1898. In olden times the clan constituted the whole 
of the state in which the family was included. 
After the decline of the clans, the so-called Uji 
constitution, the family or house took its place in 
society as it exists today. This explains the syn- 
chronic use of the clan—and family names. The 
four principal clans are: Gen or Minamoto, Hei 
or Taira, To or Fujiwara, Kitsu or Tachibana. 
The artists use these clan names, although seldom, 
for the marking of their art objects. 

The artist to be registered under the name Mitsu- 
hide himself wrote his name De-me (family name) 
Fuji-wara (clan name), Mitsu-hide (first name). 
To increase the confusion, the Japanese artist, 1n- 
stead of writing the above names on his art pro- 
ductions, eliminates them completely and uses a 
whole string of other names. 

Next comes the child’s name (yomyo or osan- 
ana), in the place of which is used the real name 
when the child reaches his fifteenth year. While 
as a boy he was named Ta-ro or Kiku-no-suke, he 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 113 


is now called Haji-me or Tamotsu. ‘The child’s 
name of the hero Yoshitsune was Ushi-waka. 

In addition to this he can, as a grown man, have 
~asurname (if we can eall it that), (azana), an ele- 
gant name which is supposed to represent Chinese 
—therefore high—educational development, as for 
instance, Kun-teki, Bun-rin, Shi-sei (the last name 
is the azana of the famous historian Sanyo. ) 

Then follows the artist name, go or gago. The 
author or artist can, to the great grief of collectors 
and historians, have several of those names. He 
can have one name in Tokyo, another in Kyoto, 
or one as a young man, another one as an elderly 
man, anda third oneasanold man. For instance, 
To-zan as an old man ealls himself T'o-o. The 
famous painter Hoku-sai (also a pseudonym or 
artist name) 1760-1849, son of Nakajima Ise, signs 
the following names during the course of his life: 
Shunro (1778-1784), Gummatei (1785), Mugura 
Shunro (1786-1794), Sori (1795, 1797, 1798), 
Hokusai (1796 and later). Sori changed into 
Hokusai (1798-1799), Shinsai (1799), Raito 
(1800), Kako (about 1804), Hokusai changed into 
Taito (1816), Taito formerly Hokusai (1817, 1818, 
1819), change of Hokusai Taito into Katsuchika 


114 NETSUKES 


litsu (1821), the old fool Titsu (1824), Manji 
(1835), Manji the old man foolishly fond of sing- 
/ing (1836 until his death in 1849). On the other 
hand Katsuchika Taito is the name of one of his 
pupils. I have given this long list of names ac- 
cording to Goncourt because all of Hokusai’s artist 
names which he used from time to time, can be 
definitely given. His real name however, is not 
known. ‘The artist’s names often represent local 
allusions. 

It often happens that the artist name can be 
recognized on the additional syllables like min 
(people), do (temple, hall), sai (study room), tei 
(pavilion, summer house), ken (house), ya 
(house), an (hut), ro (first floor), en, yen, (park), 
sha (hut), which syllables can be freely changed, so 
that the same artist can call himself Gyokumin 
(pearl People), Gyokudo, Gyokusai, Gyokutei, 
Gyokuken, while it is also possible that a pupil or 
son or adopted son of Gyokusai, in order to point 
out this property or to make a distinction between 
himself and his father or teacher, can call him- 
self, Gyokutei or Gyokuken. Itis even known that 
a teacher, like the painter Toyokuni, has permitted 


‘(SI0AT) ‘IOp[OH esuoouy UBT “Z *(TB}oUL pue auoq) ‘YJBeYs pus dJIUy “T 


MAGCIOH ASNAONI GNV BUAOOVA—IX 8VId 








ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 115 


his pupil to use the same names as himself, in order 
to facilitate the sale of the art products. The 
pupil of Hokusai have the following artists names 
which embody the first half of their teacher’s 
name: Hoku-ba, Hoku-kei (Hok-kei), Hoku-ju, 
Hoku-un. The second half of the artist name of 
the master is often utilized in the formation of a 
new name, so that Toyo-kuni’s pupil (Toyo-kuni 
IT) is named Kuni-sada, while the latter’s pupil 
again inherits the second half of the master’s 
name, and is thus called Sada-tora. 

A poet signs with a special kind of artist name, 
a nom de plume which is called haimei, under 
verses made of seventeen syllables (haikai), 1. e. 
Ki-kaku: an actor, story teller, a geisha, the stage 
name of geimei, as for instance the actor Dan-ju- 
ro. | 

Besides the foregoing real artists names, there 
is also a kind of additional name, a pseudonym, 
which is used for special reasons, as for instance 
in the case of erotic figures and carvings, to con- 
ceal the originator. Those names are: Cho-sha, 
angler; Yu-jin, hermit, priest; Sho-shi, private 
person; Shy-jin, master, gentleman. ‘These names 


116 NETSUKES 


were written under calligraphy or under verse. 
There is also the name sei which is used as a mark 
of respect on the part of the artist in addressing 
his superiors or his elders. Therefore: Sei-ryo-do, 
Gyoku-yen, Yujin, Shun-ko Cho-sha, Ho-rai San- 
jin; Kio-yen Ko-ji, Kio-yen Sei. 

The last is the posthumous namé, homyo or 
kaimyo, which the Buddhist priest inserts in the 
obituary notice of every deceased person. These 
names end with in, koji, shinji, shinnyo, doji, etc., 
according to the age, race and religion of the per- 
son; for instance the Kaimyo of the famous sword 
decorator Joi was Kikenin Ryoshu Shinji. High 
personnages like the Mikados, on account of their 
superiority, have a special Shintoistic posthumous 
name (okurina) ; the Okurina of the famous Sho- 
gun L[yeyaso was To-sho-gu. 

To the general name, which is the first name, be- 
longs the name (yobina) a woman’s name which 
when preceded by the syllable O designates honor, 
like in O Kiku, ‘“‘lady’’ or ‘‘Lady chrysanthe- 
mun, * ELC 

From this results that we can classify the names 
in the following categories: 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES Tie? 


J apanese 


myoji, uji 


 zokumei, zokumyo 


Tsusho 
yobina 


nanorl, na 


jitsumei, jitsumyo 
imina (posthum) 


ujl 

sel, kabane 
yomyo 

osanana 

azana 

ZO 

gago 

haimei, haimyo 


geimel 


homyo 
kaimyo 


okurina 


English Hxample 


family name De-me 


first name, general 
: uke-za- 
name, professional 

ye-mon 
name 


first name from the 
15th, cent. on, real Yasu-hisa 
first name 


clan name Fuji-wara 
child’s name Ushi-waka 
surname Shi-sei 
artist name Hoku-sai 
additional name San-jin 
poet’s name Ki-kaku 
stage name Dan-ju-ro 


posthumous name Kikenin 

of the Buddhists Ryoshu 
Shinji 

posthumous name 


To-sho- 
of high personnages a ance 


118 NETSUKES 


It has not as yet been ascertained which Net- 
suke carvers made use of some of the above cate- 
gories. Perhaps the number of the most import- 
ant would not be very much reduced if the signa- 
ture of different names could be proved to be those 
of the same person. 

If only the artists would use their names in a 
way in which they could be identified. Mutilations 
also occur whereby one sign is given, representing 
the signature, and this sign can be either the first 
or last half of the first name, the artist name or 
the family name, like: fuji, gi, ko, koku, mitsu, ren, 
setsu, shin, hide, de, etc. One artist makes a joke 
by alluding to the famous De-me (outstanding 
eyes) family of mask carvers, when signing with 
a name like Me-de O-me, ‘‘happy stupid big eye,”’ 
or with Me-de-ta Me ‘*‘ goggle eye’’—‘‘happy stupid 
eye,’’ names which he composes himself. Another 
artist will sign U-wa-sa, ‘‘chattering’’ on a figure 
representing a human being in the act of sneezing, 
this with reference to the proverb which says that 
‘‘he who sneezes is being chattered about.’’ 

The order in which the names of persons, who 
use several names at once, are given, is as follows: 
artist name (K), family name (F), eventual clan 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 119 


name (C), firstname (V). Like the Hungarians, 
the Japanese place their first name after the fam- 
ily name. Judging from the many changes that 
. occur, it seems that the order in which the names 
follow as well as the use of one or many names, is 
arbitrary. Below are a few examples of the order 
and the number of names. 


ee OLY’. CCA ENE Have Ve 

vk V Eee. EK. K. 

BIS .V. Vek Id ih, F, 
HYG: 


It is also the custom to use the first syllable of 
the family name and of the first name: one syllable 
only of the family name, (i.e. De for De-me) ; only 
one syllable of the artist name (i.e. Ko for Ko-ryu- 
sai). Thus the carver has the four following 
names: Kami-bayashi Gyuka Rakushiken Keimei. 
These names represent: a myoji, a tsusho and at 
the same time a go, a jitsumei. Or the carver 
is named: Okano Shoju Yasunori Heizaburo; 
which means that he has a myoji, a go, a jitsumel 
and a tsusho. 

It is therefore difficult, if not impossible, espec- 
ially for a person who is not a Japanese, to deter- 
mine the identity of the carver, or even to pick the 


120 NETSUKES 


real name from the large collection of the real and 
acquired first names, adoptive and pupil names, 
artist names and even posthumous names. The 
same first name appears more than once among the 
names of the same family, not only as the name 
of the father, son and grandson (s. Tomo-chika), 
but frequently also as the selfchosen petname of all 
the sons of a famous or much loved father. 

On the other hand, it 1s not seemly to keep a first 
name or an artist name when it has already be- 
longed to a famous artist who is not related to the 
family, so that we may suppose that the Netsukes 
signed with the name Shu-zan in the same syllable 
script, actually have been made by this once fam- 
ous master. It may be that one of his pupils has 
acquired Shu-zan’s name after the latter’s death, 
as the painter Kunisada bears the name of Toyo- 
kuni II, or the pupils of Mi-wa I who are named 
Mi-wa II and Mi-wa III. If such is not the case, 
an artist whose first name is Nao-masa, would call 
himself Nao-mitsu, Mitsu-sada or any other name 
that may seem fit to him, if a famous Nao-masa had 
already existed before him. 

There is a carver by the name of Tomo-kazu and 
also one named Kasu-tomo; the latter apparently 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 121 


is a pupil of the first named artist. Itis even more 
difficult to imagine that Nori-zane and Ho-jitsu are 
presumably the same person, and I’-po-sai his 
_ pupil. The first two names are different pronun- 
ciations of the same script signs, while I-ichi re- 
presents a syllable which is added by the pupil, 
and the syllable nori or ho in this case is pro- 
nounced po, the final syllable sai characterizing 
the name as an artist name. Whether Masa-hisa 
and Sho-kyu-sai are teacher and pupil or two 
names for one and the same person, also Masa- 
tomo and Sho-yu-sai, cannot be determined. 

As certain names have been used by artist gen- 
erations for many centuries, as is the case with Go- 
to, De-me, Shiba-yama, it must be determined first 
whether names like the foregoing are family names 
and as such could belong to several individuals. 

Much room is left for investigation as to which 
artists with the same parts of names or parts of 
names having the same spelling and pronunciation, 
have had relations as teacher and pupil. Would 
there for instance, be a connection between the 
many artists who have the syllable masa incorpor- 
ated in their name, and the famous Masa-nao, be- 
cause they use the same signs for this syllable, or 


122 NETSU KES 


in spite of the fact that they make use of a differ- 
ent sign ? 

It would be equally interesting to ascertain 
whether the various artists with the same family 
name (i.e. O-no, Sei-min, O-no Ryu-raku, O-no 
Ryu-min) belong together as relatives or as 
adopted pupils of a famous family. We find the 
name of the Myo-chin family from the 12th century 
until the end of the 19th century (wrought iron 
work and chased work) ; the family Go-to during 
many centuries, etc. 

In very few cases, the artist has himself placed 
on his work further details which would or would 
not lead to his identification. The inscription on 
one Netsuke reads :—‘‘Tomi-haru of Kaaigawa in 
the province of Iwami has carved this piece at the 
the age of fifty-seven during the first year of the 
Kwansei period (1789) in the month of Decem- 
ber.’’ This inscription is only one mm. wide and 
twenty-seven mm. long! When then was Mr. Tom- 
iharu born? The Japanese counts the birth year 
and also the current year as a whole year. For 
instance, a child born in the afternoon of December 
olst, after having been alive for twelve hours, is 
two years old. This ancient calculation is called 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 123 


Kyu-reki, the European kind Shin-reki. As this 
fact is very little known, a great many mistakes 
are made in connection with the data on birth years 
-and ages of Japanese people. In the case of Tom- 
iharu, the European will be inclined to assume that 
he was born in 1732 because he was fifty-seven 
years old in 1789, whereas he was only born in 1733. 
That this artist was born in 1733 has been con- 
firmed by a second Netsuke dated: ‘‘1794, sixty- 
two years old.’’ But what is the name of the 
artist? Tomiharu is neither an artist name nor 
a family name; presumably it was a first name. 
Another Netsuke is signed: ‘‘Kiyo tomi haru sei 
yo do ka ai gawa iwa mi ten mei otsu shi,’’ conse- 
quently this piece was carved in 1785 in Kaaigawa, 
or on the river Kaai, in the province of Iwami, by 
a man whose artist name was ‘‘Seiyodo,”’ or ‘‘in 
the Seiyo house.’’ He has the family name of Kiyo 
or the family name Kiyotomi or a family name a 
part of which is Kiyo. In the first case the he is 
a she and is named ‘‘Miss Springtime!’’ There 
is a fourth Netsuke bearing the following inscrip- 
tion: ‘‘Carved and certified by stamp of Miss (or 
Mrs.) Tomiharu, with Seiyodo as an artist name, 
of Kaaigawa, province of Iwami.’’ Wouldn’t this 


124 NETSUKES 


lady, who still carved when she was sixty-two years 
old, be happy to know that people concerned them- 
selves about her one hundred and seventy-two years 
after her birth. 

Fixing the dates also presents many difficulties. 
Hither the carver does not give the date with accu- 
racy, or we are confronted with a false inscription. 
For instance, the inscription on one Netsuke reads 
as follows: ‘*‘ Ninth year of the Bukwa period, year 
of the goats.’’ This is inaccurate because the ninth 
year (1812) of that period was that of the monkeys, 
and the eighth year (1811) that of the goats. 

It seems that giving the age of the artist is only 
done in cases where, in the eyes of the Japanese, it 
has reached an astonishing length, or else because 
the perfection of his work has been very great. 
Would the ever re-occurring numbers have any 
particular significance in the life of the persons, 
as with us the ‘‘Anniversary’’ of the 70th or 80th 
birthday? A person having grey hair signs, as an 
old man, 0 or so. A carver (Gam-bun) places after 
his name the word rojin ‘‘old man;’’ another one 
signs only sandai ‘‘third generation,’’ the latter 
probably an artist name. 

The pupil relations are also given: ‘‘Toshi-take, 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 125 


pupil of Toshi-haru of Chikuzen.’’ Another one 
informs us of his imitation of another man’s work 
with the following words: ‘‘Kuni-hiro made this 
_ after a model of Shu-zan.’’ 

The marking: Motome ni ojite or Konomi ni 
ojite, ‘‘upon request,’’ is encountered occasionally 
and points to an order received from a customer. 
On one Netsuke is a regular dedication, namely: 
‘‘A gift to Mr. Shiransai from Haku-yei-sai, who 
carved this.’’ 

It is not astonishing that a carver gives his 
residence. But what is his idea in giving only the 
name of the province in which he lived? Very 
many other interesting marks are found on the 
Netsukes. Another gives a Chinese verse like: 
‘Spring and Spring Tides have come together.”’ 
A third one makes the following inscription: ‘‘I 
killed (!) the whale from whose fish bone I have 
carved this scolopendrid, when at the age of 60 I 
travelled along the Tokaido.’’ On an erotic Uzume 
is written: ‘‘It happened that in the tenth month 
of the Boshin year (1788), Minko, subject of the 
Daimyo of Tsu, carved this piece more or less as 
a joke.’?’ Onacrab Netsuke was inscribed the fol- 
lowing: ‘‘It was during the last ten days of the 


126 NETSUKES 


sixth (summer) month, of the monkey year, the 
ninth of the Bunkwa period (1811 or 1812) on the 
Island of Izukushima in the province of Geishu, 
when I, Yujin ‘‘the hermit,”’ my two artists names 
being Seiryodo and Gyokuyen, carved this crab, 
who is a dweller in the water, out of a boar’s 
tooth.’’ This inscription placed in three perpen- 
dicular parts is altogether two mm. wide and seven 
em. long. | 

A Netsuke representing an archaic saga animal, 
made of wood painted in different colors bears the 
inscription ‘‘Rare. Possessor Kasho.’’ This sig- 
nifies that the famous painter Ikeno Taigado, sur- 
name Kasho, who lived from 1723-1776, was the 
owner of this rare piece. If on the other hand 
the carver Shun-ko-sai declares on the under side 
of the Netsuke in beautiful well framed script, that 
the figure represents the devil ‘‘Shundendoji,’’ 
this is not a sign of the grace of God having been 
bestowed upon the artist. 

Many artists place upon their original works a 
special mark which is used by them alone and 
which is named Kakihan or Kwao. It means: 
kaki-to write, to sign; han-stamp, press, press 
plate; therefore a seal to certify that something has 





PLATE XII—MONKEYS 


1. Monkey, (wood and coral). 2. Monkey looking at coral plant, 
(ivory). 3. Monkey eating nut, (wood). 4. Monkey and 
fish, (ivory) 5. Monkey and baby, (wood). 

6. Monkey and Octopus, (wood). 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 127 


been written, signed and printed. The Kakihan 
of an artist may in some way be connected with 
one of the signs or with the first and second sign 
of his name, and as a rule not with the family name 
or artist name, but with the first name. It happens 
sometimes that an apparently well known artist 
places his Kakihan on a Netsuke without adding 
his name, in which ease it is necessary to know the 
mark before one is able to identify the maker of 
the object. There are also artists who write their 
name in the same way and use a Kakihan that has 
one stroke more or less than another, but is other- 
wise the same, this designating that the respective 
artists are members of one and the same family or 
school. It seems that the Kakihan also proves 
the genuineness of the carving like the Saiku-in 
stamp (literally ‘‘trade mark’’) which appeared 
on so many works, and which, according to Yokoi 
has not been used since De-me Do-haku (1633- 
1715.) | 

Other significant signs with which certain Net- 
sukes are marked, are those that represent titles 
granted by the Mikado. No artist who carved only 
Netsukes has received such a title. The first three 
of the following titles were mostly given to physic- 


IT28 NETSUKES 


jans, painters (especially those of the Kano school) 
or sculptors, (and on rare occasions to sword 
decorators, as for instance: Goto Ichijo:) 


Hokkyo: Hogen: Hoin: Tenkaichi. 


The Hokkyo which is the title of a Buddhist 
order, seems to be the lowest in rank. Ryu-kei, 
and Sessai are two Netsuke carvers who had this 
title. The next higher is the Hogen, also a Bud- 
dhist title, which was given to De-me Hiro-aki, 
Kiku-tei, Raku-min, Ran-tei, Sessai, Shu-getsu, 
Shu-zan. The painter Kano Motonobu (1477- 
1559) was named Ko-Hogen, ‘‘the old Hogen.’’ 
The next is Hoin, which is the highest honor title. 
Brockhous does not know of any Netsuke carver 
who acquired this title. According to Anderson, 
the order in which the titles follow is just the re- 
verse. The highest title conferred by the Shogun, 
and which is born especially by mask carvers and 
manufacturers of metal mirrors, but not by 
painters or Netsuke carvers as such, is the Ten-ka- 
ichi title. 

Should we refrain from making a study of these 
things and be guided only by the conclusions of the 
experts, our labors would be in vain. There are a 


ARTISTS’ SIGNATURES 129 


few noteworthy carvers of Japan, but in view of 
the fact that the names of these artists are syste- 
matically forged, their analysis is of very little 
importance in the estimation of the age or artistic 
value of a Netsuke. 


CHAPTER VII 


MYTHOLOGY 


THE priesthood, church arrangements, and uten- 
sils pertaining to the divine service of the two 
Japanese religions have been taken as subjects of 
Netsukes and so have the mythological legends of 
the people, which are related to these religions. 

What the original primitive religion of the Jap- 
anese was cannot be determined, because the des- 
cent of the present inhabitants of Dai Nippon has 
not yet been determined. ‘The first inhabitants 
supposedly were cave dwarfs named Koropoku- 
guru in the language of the Ainus who supplanted 
them. Certain people identify them with the 
Ainus; others claim that they were their predeces- 
sors. The Japanese called the Ainus Yezo or 
Yebisu, barbarians. They were driven -to the 
North by the Yamato tribe who entered Japan 
through the Southwest, into Kyushu, on or about 
660 B.C. This Yamato tribe was supposedly com- 


posed of the immediate successors of an Amaterasu 
| 130 


MYTHOLOGY I31 


ancestress. Those belonging to the higher classes, 
the so-called nobility type, Daimyogao, are much 
taller, with a fine Chinese oval-shaped face, while 
the remainder of the present day Japanese are 
small, round-faced Mongol-Malayans with very 
pronounced jaws and often slit eyes. We very 
seldom find Polynesian blood, or descendants of 
Kanakas or Negritos. On account of the mixture 
of races big round eyes are also found which point 
to Aryan (?) or Malayan descent. Ainus as well 
as Indians and Hollanders, and the Indian Saga 
figures were made by the Netsuke carvers, with 
Aryan eyes. 

Besides Christianity, Japan has two religions, 
Shintoism and Buddhism. Not only does a part of 
the population practise either one or the other re- 
ligion, but the majority of the people worship the 
Gods of the one as well as of the other. The pro- 
tection of a Shintoist God is besought for a Jap- 
anese upon his birth, while the death celebration 
is performed in accordance with the rites of the 
Buddhist sect to which the family of the deceased 
belongs. The original universal religion of the 
Yamato tribes was a cult of ancestors and heroes, 
which is similar to the primitive religions of most 


132 NETSUKES 


people. At first heaven, the seat of the Gods, was 
identified with this religion. The celestial bodies, 
the sun and the moon, the elements and the powers 
of nature were worshipped. ‘The sun was greatly 
worshipped. Also the souls of dead people of 
great merit were worshipped under the name of 
powerful, invisible spirits, Kami. There even 
exist deified forebears of a whole community as 
well as of separate families. The origin of the 
founder of the present dynasty Jimmu Tenno (660 
B. C.) was traced back to the God of the sun 
Amaterasu, and many Kamis were named. To 
these were added a great many devils and demi- 
gods standing between Creatures and Gods. 

The Shintoist temples neither have statues nor 
images, because the Shintoists believe in invisible 
Gods. In the sanctuary, which is made by means 
of a curtain, are only found a highly polished metal 
mirror and a bundle of white paper strips attached 
to a staff, both being probably symbols of clean- 
liness of soul and body, and of an irreproachable 
life, as prescribed by Shintoism. In the temple of 
Atsuta is seen the sword of the Susanoo which re- 
calls the delivery of the world from a terrible 
dragon. The Goheis originally were dusters which, 


MYTHOLOGY 133 


during prayer were used as a symbol of the deity 
itself and also served to keep the dust out of the 
atmosphere. ‘The celebrating of the official cere- 
mony for the worshipping of ancestors as super- 
human beings was not only the duty of the indivi- 
duals but also that of the foremost head of the 
race. The worshipping of the first Goddess Ama- 
terasu was the duty of the emperor alone, a duty 
which was transferred to the latter’s representa- 
tives in the provinces. ‘The duties of the clergy 
were limited to the teaching of religious and moral 
laws, delivering sermons and the execution of 
songs and holy dances which accompanied certain 
ceremonies. The priests are allowed to marry, 
and today distinguish themselves from other 
people only by the dress they wear during divine 
service. From 1868 until 1878 Shintoism was the 
national Japanese state religion which caused the 
influence of the 1300 year old foreign Buddhism 
to decline. Shintoism has done away with its re- 
ligious nature and is now considered solely as a 
forefathers’ cult. Ever since that time the higher 
classes, the nobles and their families have their 
obituary ceremonies performed in accordance with 
Shintoist rites, and those of the lower classes are 


134 NETSUKES 


performed as they were before, in accordance with 
Buddhist rites. 

In the beginning was chaos. Then a number of 
Gods were created, and later again Izanagi and 
Izanami, brother and sister, came into existence, 
and condensed the chaotic world to countries and 
seas. rom Izanagi’s limbs and clothes were 
formed new Gods, among whom Amaterasu, the 
goddess of the sun, her brother the god of the moon, 
and finally, out of Izanagi’s nose, the wild god of 
storm, Susanoo. Susanoo has for his domain the 
nether world and the sea, and Amaterasu the upper 
world. An offense by her brother caused her to 
retire to a cave, so that the sun shone no longer. 
The goddess Uzume, through cunning and comic 
dances persuaded Amaterasu to reappear, and 
thereby is credited with having given the sun 
back to the world. Later Amaterasu sent her 
grandson Ninigi to earth to reign over Japan, and 
gave him the holy mirror, a sword and a jewel, the 
symbols of a pure soul, of courage and of wisdom. 
He in turn handed them down to his great-grand- 
son, the first emperor Jimmu (660 B. C.), and from 
that time on they have been considered the most 
precious treasures of the Mikado. Through 





3 4 


Puare XIII--MOON AND OTHER FIGURES 


1. Moon, (ivory). 2. Fukurokuju, (bone). 3. Bat, (ivory). 4. Woman 
and pigeon, (wood and ivory). 


MYTHOLOGY 135 


Jimmu the emperors of Japan, down to the present 
reigning Mikado, are descendants in a direct line 
from the goddess of the sun. 

All kinds of animals are taken care of in the 
temples of some gods: stags, pigeons, herons, 
ravens, tortoises, carp, foxes, which are taken for 
a kind of God-like messenger. These animals are 
not worshipped as the ibis, the crocodile, the ich- 
neumon, the cat and steer were worshipped by the 
Egyptians. 

The cult consists principally of the temple feasts, 
of ceremonies, Harai, through which the priests 
purify the souls of the living, and of prayers, 
Inori, with which they implore the help of God. 
They believe in the immortality of the soul, but 
have only a vague idea as to the after world. 

For many centuries the clever Buddhist priests 
adapted their doctrine and the manifestations of 
Buddha to Shintoism, to such an extent that almost 
all the Gods seem to belong to the one as well as to 
the other religion, each one having several corres- 
ponding names. ‘The heaven gods, are not at all 
or very rarely reproduced in art, whereas the 
happy Uzume frequently appears in the form of 
Netsukes. 


136 NETSUKES 


At the end of the third century A. D. the 
Chinese philosophical doctrines of Confucius were 
introduced through the Korean Wani (holy 
books), and with them the writing, the language 
and culture of the Chinese people. In the same way 
the heavenly, earthly and human gods of Taoism 
reached Japan. Gods and goddesses of wind, 
thunder, seas, fire, sustenance and illness, of moun- 
tains and water, rivers, temples and trees, were 
worshipped—about eight million gods in all. All 
his gods, Shintoist, Taoist, Buddhist, if repre- 
sented at all by the Japanese artist, are treated 
with a familiarity and a delightful humor, which 
it is difficult for the Western people to reconcile 
with worship and honor. Even among Christian 
people, however, punishments have been imposed 
upon ungracious or ineffective deities, and earthly 
beings are spoken of as ‘“‘holy’’ by other earthly 
beings, which indicates a certain amount of inti- 
macy between those who are praying and those who 
are being prayed to. 

As far as the representation of Shintoist and 
Chinese gods is concerned, it resembles the art of 
the Buddhist transcendant figures. Raiden, the 
god of thunder, and Oni the little Buddhist devil, 


MYTHOLOGY 137 


have horns and claws, Uzume and the Buddhist 
priest Daruma might be taken for brother and sis- 
ter. The amalgamation of form is naturally based 
upon an amalgamation of the conceptions of the 
god which plays a great part in the religious be- 
lief of the Japanese people. 

Uzume, mostly named Okame, the Shintoist god- 
dess, who, through her dance has invited the god- 
dess of the sun, Amaterasu, to come back out of the 
cave to which she had retired after having been 
offended by her brother, Susanoo, the god of the 
storm is represented as a corpulent female figure 
with heavy puffed cheeks, smiling face and gen- 
erally with two black spots on the forehead re- 
presenting painted eyebrows. 

Between the real Japanese Shintoist god figures 
and those of the Buddhist type, which were only 
introduced in the 6th century A. D., there appears 
a sort of connecting link in the seven gods of for- 
tune, which were found in every Japanese house- 
hold. They were greatly worshipped and sum- 
moned to exercise their power in favor of those be- 
lieving in them. They are original Shintoist (Jap- 
anese), Taoist (Chinese), Brahmanic (Indian) 
and Buddhist (Indian) gods, who are transfigured 


138 NETSUKES 


both inwardly and outwardly. Their special func- 
tions toward the deserving people are: precautions 
for a long life and wisdom,—F ukurokuju; wealth 
and comfort,—Daikoku; daily exigencies,—Kbisu ; 
happiness,—Hotei; good luck in war,—Bishamon, 
of whom Brockhous has never seen a Netsuke; 
scientific fame,—Jurojin; knowledge and wealth, 
Benten. ‘To these are occasionally added Inari 
(the God of rice, fox) and the Japanese gods 
of fortune Kasuga and Itsukushima, the Shintoist 
gods Sarudahiko (red face, long red nose, and mate 
of Uzume), Okuninushi, Koyane and Sukunahi- 
kona. 

Fukurokuju, God of Fortune, whose name is 
‘wealth — happiness — longevity,’’ comes from 
China and may probably be identified with Lao-tse 
therefore of Taoist origin, is represented by an old 
man with a long, white beard, clad in a philos- 
opher’s costume, with an enormously elongated 
skull, which had developed to that extent by his 
hard thinking as to how he can make people happy. 
Next to him are often found tortoises, cranes or 
stags, in the hand a carved staff, paper roll or 
jewel. 

Ebisu or Yebisu, pronounced Ebis, supposedly 


MYTHOLOGY 139 


is of Shintoistic origin, the third son of the creators 
of the world Izanagi and Izanami, who, at the age 
of three was not able to walk and was therefore dis- 
owned by his parents, sent forth in a boat and left 
to his own fate. He was named Hiruko. In con- 
trast to the other gods of fortune he is represented 
in Japanese court attire, with a peculiar bonnet, 
usually with a fish, such as bream, tai, or an angle. 

Hotei, literally meaning ‘‘bag of cloth’’ is the 
half Taoist and half Buddhist god of fortune who 
appears more frequently than any other. He is 
more of a fat, happy ‘‘old boy”’ than a creature 
worthy of being worshipped. He has a great 
preference for children and is mostly represented 
with a big bag over his shoulders, which contains 
the takaramono, the costly treasure of Buddhism, 
and always with the lower part of his body naked. 
A shaved head points to the fact that he was a 
priest originally. He is supposed to be a carica- 
ture of the Maitreya Buddha. 

Daikoku, which means ‘‘big black man’’ is iden- 
tical with the Buddhist Mahakala. Even though 
represented in Chinese civilian or court attire with 
peculiar head dress he is of pure Japanese origin. 
He carries a hammer and attempts to carry also a 


140 NETSUKES 


bag containing the Takaramono on his shoulder, or — 
to stand on two rice bales. The rat is often assoc- 
iated with him as a symbol of rapid increase, hence 
wealth. The hammer serves the purpose of incor- 
porating the In and Yo (the male and female prin- 
ciple) and so leads to the evolution of all things. 

Jurojin, in the Japanese representation easily 
mistaken for Fukurokuju, is another conception of 
the same god. Like Fukurokuju he often appears 
accompanied by cranes, white stags or tortoises, 
but wears a transparent cap, which identifies him. 
He is represented as an earnest, upright man, 
worthy of being worshipped, in the attire of a 
Chinese sage. 

Benten, the only representative of the beautiful 
sex among the seven gods of fortune, is of Brah- 
manic and therefore of Indian origin, and presum- 
ably identical with Sarasvati, the wife of Brahma. 
She is represented as a beautiful woman with a 
crown, occasionally with a musical instrument as a 
symbol of harmony, often with a dragon, a serpent 
or seated on a mythical animal. 

While the Shintoist worshipping of forefathers 
had been the duty of a very few people, the Bud- 
dhist religion brought other ideas into the country, 


MYTHOLOGY 141 


namely the doctrine of a supreme creature 
ruling over all other beings, the duty of everyone 
to worship it and emulate its sanctity. On the 
other hand, not only the responsible race leaders, 
but also every individual could look forward to 
living forever in the next world as a god-like crea- 
ture, in accordance with his or her good or bad 
earthly deeds. — 

Buddha, in Japanese Butsu, whose real name 
was Siddhattha, of the wealthy and noble race of | 
the Sakyo, a branch of which is named Gotama, 
lived in the 6th century B. C., was born in India, 
and died when he was eighty years old, in 480 B. C. 
His doctrine: of suffering, of the origin of suffer- 
ing, of elevation from suffering, and of the way to 
elevation from the same, spread gradually over all 
Asia. Upon the occasion of the third council held 
under the reign of King Acoka, it was decided to 
send out missionaries who in 225 B. C. converted 
first the hinterland of India, and then Ceylon, 
where the doctrine is practised in its purest form 
to this day, while in the North it has been changed, 
and in India has completely fallen into oblivion. 
At the birth of Christ, Buddhism was introduced 
into China, and in the 4th century A. D. it was 


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adopted there as the State religion. In 552 A. D., 
about one thousand years after Buddhism came 
into existence, it was brought to Japan from 
Korea, together with the Chinese writing, where it 
remained the principal religion until the year 1868, 
when the old Japanese Shintoist religion, for polit- 
ical reasons, was declared the State religion. Even 
today, the Japanese recognize both religions, visit 
their temples and when in distress turn to the gods 
of the one as well as of the other. Through his 
residence the Japanese belongs to the diocese of 
the Shintoist guardian spirit of the place, to whose 
care and protection he is entrusted after his birth, 
but through his descent, through the family, he be- 
longs to the Buddhist sect of the country. There 
are twelve Buddhist sects which distinguish them- 
selves primarily by their more or less profound 
perception of the Buddhist metaphysics and phil- 
osophy, through myth and form, and the belief in 
the power of mysterious signs and forms, as well 
in their learning as to the various ways by which to 
reach the Buddhist Heaven, Nirvana, the paradise 
of the West, gokuraku. 

The ‘‘sect of virtue,’’? Zenshu, for instance 
teaches that meditation, reflection, self-absorption 


MYTHOLOGY 143 


and the truth acquired thereby, leads to one’s aims 
and not the study of holy writings, nor words and 
deeds. Every Japanese child knows the very 
popular figure of the proposed author of this creed, 
The Daruma, a personification of the Buddhist 
laws, and can tell of him that he spent nine years 
in a temple, motionless, with his face turned to the 
wall, absorbed in meditation. 

While the original doctrine of Buddha knew 
only one way for people to redeem themselves, and 
this was by their own strength, with no mediator 
between gods and mortals, there came into ex- 
istence, in the 8rd century B. C., at the time when 
Buddhism penetrated the great masses of Indian 
people, a cult, an image service, which soon became 
a permanent institution of the Buddhist church. 
The author of this religion and his sixteen or five 
hundred celebrated pupils were figuratively wor- 
shipped as saints. Under the influence of foreign 
religions which did not attempt to fight Buddhism, 
but which, on the contrary, adopted it, there came 
into being a Pantheon with millions of Buddha 
figures. According to the Mahayana doctrine, 
which is the northerly form of Buddhism, the crea- 
tor of heaven and earth, the first Buddha, produced 


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five meditative Buddhas, Dhyani Buddhas, among 
whom was Amitabha, who, as Amida in Japan, has 
pushed into the background Gotama, the author of 
the religion. The Dhyani Buddhas appear after 
each other, in our world, as five Manushi-Buddhas, 
human Buddhas, Amitaba appearing as Gotama; 
and they have five spiritual sons, the Dhyani-Bod- 
hisatvas, Amitabha den Padmapani, who, trans- 
formed into a woman, is greatly honored in China 
as Kwanyin, in Japan as Kwannon, the goddess of 
pardon and mercy, as Madonna, (but never as a 
mother). The Amida-Dogma, based upon the per- 
sonification of endless light, as the name indicates, 
came into existence in Kashmir er the 2d cen- 
tury A. D. 

It is the popular belief that Amida thrones on a 
lotus flower in the ‘‘ Paradise of the West,’’ where 
everyone is free from suffering, surrounded by 
wonderful scenery, beautiful trees, ponds and 
lotus flowers, and pavilions made of precious 
stones, and where Amida’s glory and praise is sung. 

The counterpart of heaven is hell, which was 
originally a Brahmanic idea. It is placed under the 
authority of King Yemma, together with many 
devils, and is subdivided into different parts in 





6 


7 


Piatt XIV—VEGETABLES AND FLOWERS 


1. Chrysanthemum, (ivory). 2. Snail, (ivory). 3. Nuts, (ivory). 


Peach, (ivory). 


5. Gourd water bottle, (metal). 6. Gourd 


(wood). 7. Mushrooms, (wood). 


MYTHOLOGY 145 


which regeneration is made possible after painful 
purgatory. 

From the Brahmanic gods Indra as Teishaku 
Ten, and Brahma as Bon Ten, have been taken into 
Japanese Buddhism, under the name of ‘‘the two 
kings’’ Ni-o. They guard the temple against evil 
spirits, and their statues are often placed in the 
outer niche at the entrance of the temple, and are 
usually of enormous size with a very wicked ex- 
pression. 

Kwannon, Chinese Kwanyin, goddess of mercy 
and charity, is the most popular of all Buddhist 
gods. According to the Chinese legend she was 
the daughter of a king of the Chow Dynasty (696 
B.C.) and only later identified with the Indian god 
Avalokitesvara. She refused a marriage to which 
her royal father forced her, and was therefore con- 
demned to death. But the sword of the executioner 
broke without wounding her. Her soul reached 
hell, but hell, through her presence, was trans- 
formed into a paradise, so that the king of hell 
was forced to send her back to earth. Thus, by 
miracle, she landed on a lotus flower in the island 
of Pu-tu. 

It appears that in a prize fight with Mata no 


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Goro, Kawazu won by bringing one of his legs 
under the knee of his adversary in such a way that 
the latter fell; Kawazu got on top of him and there- 
by won the match. Ever since that time this trick 
has been called the Kawazu throw. Kawazu how- 
ever was shot with an arrow by Kudo Suketsune 
for which the former’s son took revenge on the 
murderer who was a friend of Mata no Goro, this 
resulting in a long feud. 

The sixteen Rakans, adherents of Buddha, can 
often be distinguished from the Sennins by the 
right shoulder and breast which are uncovered, 
earrings which are worn occasionally, and in pic- 
tures, by their halo. The representation of 
Rakans and of many Sennins is so uncertain and 
so seldom recognizable by any characteristic marks 
it is often difficult to identify the individual per- 
sonification. 

Gama Sennin. Little is known about this fre- 
quently represented person. The name signifies 
toad. He appears to have lived in the mountains, 
and at one time taken pity on a sick frog or four- 
legged or three-legged toad. This animal, in real- 
ity was a very wise demon, who, in order to show 


MYTHOLOGY 147 


his appreciation to his benefactor, taught him all 
kinds of secrets. 

The Sennin are celestial beings of Taoist, rare- 
ly of Buddhist-Indian, and in exceptional cases, 
of pure Japanese origin. There are five classes. 
(1) Doomed geniuses without bodies; (2) geniuses 
of human nature, who have renounced all physical 
desires, hermits; (3) earthly geniuses, people who 
have become immortal on earth, and who live in 
caves; (4) God-like geniuses, who live in heaven in 
an incorporeal state, and finally, (5) heavenly gods 
who have attained the highest purity and perpetual 
life. The second and third class of these are re- 
produced in the form of Netsukes. Among them 
are the eight Taoist Sennins (Shoriken, Tsugen, 
Ryodohin, Sokokukiu, Tekkai, Kanshoshi, Ran- 
saikwa, Kasenko), which are characterized by a 
leaf apron pointing to Indian origin, and some- 
times also by a leaf collar, uncovered head and 
heavy hairlocks or braids. 

Tsugen is one of the ‘‘eight Rishi’’ of the T'aoists 
and lived towards the end of the 7th century A. D. 
as a famous nomadic magician. His companion 
was a white horse which carried him thousands of 
miles in one day, but which, during the resting 


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periods could be folded together and packed away 
in his gourd bottle. As soon as he required the ser- 
vices of the horse again, he squirted water on the 
bottle with his mouth, upon which the animal ap- 
peared again in its natural form. He became im- 
mortal in 740. Tsugen, the wonderful gourd 
bottle, and the pliable horse are frequently taken 
as subjects for art productions. 

The gourd bottle supposedly is a sign of the 
state of celibacy of the Buddhist priest; it is used 
to moisten the mouth in the morning, which is the 
period during which the priest may neither eat nor 
drink. 

In the year 110 B. C. the Fairy Queen, Si Wang 
Mu, left her palace in the Kuen Lun mountains, 
where the peach tree of the fairies grows,—the 
fruit of which grants immortality,—to make 
another visit to her beloved emperor. She took 
with her seven peaches, of which she ate two in the 
presence of the emperor Wu Ti. While the latter 
expressed the desire to keep the stones, she saw 
through a window Tobosaku: ‘‘This child has 
stolen three of my peaches,’’ she exclaimed, ‘‘and 
is therefore nine thousand years old.’’ He ac- 
quired thereby godly wisdom, and became a good 


MYTHOLOGY 149 


advisor to his emperor. He is also represented 
with the long head of Fukurokuju. 

Tekkai is one of the most beloved Taoist Rishis, 
a pupil of Laotse, and possessed the ability of tem- 
porarily separating his soul from his body. Once, 
when the soul went to visit his teacher in the land 
of immortals, Tekkai in the meantime asked one 
of his pupils to take care of his body during his ab- 
sence, stating that he would return in seven days. 
On the sixth day the pupil learnt that his mother 
was ill and ran to her aid, because filial duty came 
before the duty as a pupil. When Tekkai re- 
turned the next day, the body had disappeared and 
he was compelled to live ina dead toad. Since that 
time he has a hideous face and is lame. 

Bashiko lived during the reign of the Chinese 
emperor Hwang Ti (2697-2597, B. C.) and was 
known as a famous veterinarian. Once there ap- 
peared before him a dragon, whose cast down ears 
and open muzzle showed that he was ill. He carried 
him into his hut and cured him by blood-letting and 
with licorice, and the dragon, to show his apprecia- 
tion, carried Bashiko forth on his back to the skies 
of immortals. 

Chinnan also cured people and animals by means 


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of magic pills. Despite his supernatural powers, 
he lived on dog’s flesh, dressed in rags, was drunk 
for days at the time, and won his livelihood by 
weaving sieves and baskets. Once he molested the 
long wished for rain dragon, in the 13th century, 
and was carried away by the inundation which was 
brought about, after having lived 1350 years. 

Kinko, a Northern Chinese sage, lived around 
the 12th century. For two hundred years he 
taught in the province of Chili and finally drowned 
himself in a river, with a promise to his pupils that 
he would return some day. While ten thousand 
pupils were awaiting him he appeared on the waves 
riding on a carp, remained with them another 
month, teaching, and disappeared once more in 
water and was never seen again. 

The Onis originally were Yakshas, a kind of 
demon over whom reigned Kubera, one of the four 
kings of heaven, or guardians of the four heaven 
directions. As Bishamon, this Kubera is counted 
among the seven gods of forune. Brockhous who 
has studied the development of the Oni representa- 
tion from the Buddhist statuary of the 7-12th cen- 
tury, finds that, as long as the Chinese and Korean 
influence prevailed, the Onis on which the Shiten- 


MYTHOLOGY ides 


nos stand, do not in any way show signs of pain or 
torture and are not made with feet. On the con- 
trary, they bear a very happy expression on their 
face, and willingly offer their back so that their 
masters may stand on them. As the independence 
of the Japanese increased, (this already at the end 
of the 8th century), the facial expression and posi- 
tion of the Onis become more grotesque. The 
Shitennos step on their face, stomach, etc., and they 
double up from the suffering thus inflicted upon 
them. Obviously the meaning of the Oni as a 
simple inferior, has been misunderstood, and has 
been taken for a conquered enemy and a bad spirit. 
Originally the Onis had nothing to do with the 
principle of evil spirits and consequently there 
exists no inter-relation between them and our devil 
or Satan. This is proven by their large number 
and the laughable, submissive parts which they 
played. There is nothing in their portrayal of the 
haughty sovereign of evil who is on the same level 
with God. 

The Buddhist devils, who have been reproduced 
with a most terrifying expression through the fan- 
tasy of the priests, are very seldom represented in 
the form of Netsukes. On the other hand, the arm- 


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less, jJeering, irritating little devils (Plates VI, 3; 
VII, 3), such as the people imagine them to be, 
appear very often, more or less as counterparts 
of the gods of fortune. With a square head, long 
straight hair, mostly with two little stumps of 
horns, in the muzzle two upper and two lower 
teeth similar to those of a beast, while the others 
are those of a human being, generally with a very 
human expression of an Aryan type, in a con- 
strained posture with human muscles, from three 
to four claws and from two to three toes, with a 
tiger skin or occasionally a hip-cloth, able to trans- 
form themselves into lovable creatures, always 
ready to play tricks, they closely resemble their 
Western brothers, the little devils of the fables. 
The European represents the devil in black, the 
negro in white and the Japanese in red. Who 
is right? Neither one of them has seen him, but 
each one gives him attributes which make him re- 
pugnant. The similarity between the outward 
form of the Asiatic devil and that of the European, 
is a Subject for thought. Horns, claws, occasionally 
the cloven hoof, are present in both cases. The 
classic Gorgon and Medusa, the ‘‘wrathful gods”’ 
of Lamaism, the Tantra divinities, and a number 


MYTHOLOGY 153 


of similar representations, are in so many respects 
alike in form, that it is not worth the trouble to 
make a thorough investigation of this subject. If 
it was formerly admitted that India was the home 
_ of the devil, from which he spread East and West- 
ward, there is more reason to believe today that 
Northwestern Asia is his home. As according to 
Darwin, our forefathers had large corner teeth like 
the anthropoid apes, and used them as dangerous 
weapons, it is possible that the natural history of 
the devils coincides with the beginning of the 
human race. Not only the fangs and the strong 
flat muscles, but also the third eye on the forehead, 
which is found occasionally in the Oni are of an- 
thropological interest, since the discoveries of de 
Graaf and Spencer make it apparent that all the 
vertebrated animals in prehistoric times, had a 
third single eye in the middle of their forehead, 
which rudimentary organ is still present in the 
pineal gland. 

The governor of the Japanese Onis is Shoki, of 
whom the Onis are very much afraid when he pur- 
sues them with a sword, but on whom they play all 
kinds of tricks. On Sylvester night, dried beans 
are thrown about in the house, while erying ‘‘ Away 


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with the devil, let happiness come in,’’ to chase the 
devils away. 

Daruma, the 28th Indian and the 1st Chinese 
Buddhist patriarch, the son of a South-Indian 
king, settled in China in the year 520 A. D. and for 
nine years remained seated motionless in a temple, 
absorbed in meditation, after which time his arms 
and legs, on account of not having been in use, 
rotted and fell from his body. He is therefore fre- 
quently represented as an unshaved head placed on 
around body. Standing on reed leaves, he is said 
to have sailed to Japan, learned Buddhism with 
good results and died in the Kataoka mountains 
in the year 618 A. D. He is the originator of the 
Buddhist sect known as Zenshu. — 

The Tokko is a symbol in three forms: with one 
arm, symbolizing the spoke of the wheel of justice, 
called rimbo; with three arms, called sanko; with 
five arms, goko. It symbolizes the irresistible 
power of prayer, of absorption in the belief and of 
ecstacy. It is said that it was originally meant to 
represent a diamond sceptre which is carried by 
priests and magicians. 

As their Aryan appearance shows, the mytho- 
logical creatures: Ashinaga, Tenaga, Shojo, 





3 4 
PLATE XV—MYTHOLOGICAL FIGURES 


1. Badger, (ivory). 2. Man and badger-teapot, (ivory). 3. Man blow- 
ing horn, (wood). 4. Fox, (ivory). 





MYTHOLOGY rss 


Ningyo, ghosts, dwarfs and angels, have this in 
common, that they appear to descend from the 
Indian saga. Like other saga figures they have 
been brought from Korea to Japan via China. 

The Ashinagas or long-legged people, and the 
Tenagas, or long-armed people, are creatures who 
lived in the North of Manchuria, according to San- 
hai-king. The legs are over thirty feet and the - 
arms over twenty feet long. The Ashinagas take 
the Tenagas on their back and carry them into deep 
water where the long-arms catch a fish with each 
hand. The long-legs wear their hair hanging 
down their back. Others thought that they lived 
in the North of China, ‘‘in proximity to the Hung 
Sheung tree,’’ and according to a third opinion, 
they lived in the ‘‘East of Chi’hshui.’’ Their 
nudity points toa warm country. In Japanese art 
they are often represented as allegorical of co- 
operative work. 

The Shojos are mythical creatures of Chinese 
origin, but completely transferred into the Jap- 
anese saga. They live on the sea-coast and the 
fishermen catch them by means of cups filled with 
wine. ‘Their red hair and blood is used to extract 
a dye which is very highly prized by Western 


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people. It is said that they resemble monkeys 
(the Orang-Utang is named Shojo), but that they 
have a face, voice and speech like children. The 
proverb says ‘‘as drunk as a Shojo.”’ 

Ningyo, or human fish, (in our language, mer- 
maid, nix, siren) are mythological creatures. In 
India the Matsyanari, mostly of the female sex, 
pass for the incarnations of the Vishnu, who saved 
the father of the human race from the flood in the’ 
form of a man with a fishtail. It is said that in 
Japan the race descends from the land of Taiyan, 
and the secrets of the deep sea have been gathered 
from the roaring of the shells. The goddess Benten 
also has mermaids for daughters. According to 
more recent investigations, the legend once origin- 
ated through the observation of the Dugong whose 
mate holds her young, while nursing, with her 
breast fin. In Japanese art they are always repre- 
sented as of Aryan type reigning over ebb and 
flood, with a round or pointed jewel provided with 
rings in their arms which guarantees longevity. 
They are also often represented suckling their 
young. 

In Japan the dwarfs are twenty-five em. high, 


MYTHOLOGY 157 


and travel in files and not like worms, so as not to 
be picked up by their deadly enemies, the cranes. 

The saga world of all people has in it mytholog- 
ical animals with supernatural properties. 
Among those included in the Japanese legends, 
only the weasel who cuts the sandal straps and 
scratches the face of the wanderer, the racoon dog, 
the kappa and the nuye are of pure Japanese 
origin. Those who come from China are the tor- 
toise, and the sea-turtle with only one eye on her 
breast plate. Of Indo-Chinese origin are appar- 
ently the natural animals who are endowed with 
supernatural powers, such as: the tiger as a king 
of the mountain animals, fox, hare, tortoise, heron, 
wolf (the thunder dog), then the natural animals 
represented with enormous dimensions; the centi- 
pede, the field spider, carps, snakes and monkeys. 
Some of these are represented with an increased 
number of limbs, snakes with two heads, a swine 
with two heads, a monkey with four ears, a fox 
with nine tails, a fish with one head and ten bodies, 
and finally the compound monsters, the dragon, 
the kirin, the baku, the phoenix, the fish with a 
dog’s head and the griffin, the latter partly animal 
and partly human. 


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The racoon dog, living in Amur and in Japan, 
sleeping through the entire winter like the fox is 
endowed, by the Japanese legends, with all sorts of 
supernatural craft, as for instance, the ability to 
change its appearance. Sometimes it resembles 
more the bear, sometimes more the fox, but always 
has a fox-tail. It has an enormously extended 
stomach on which it drums with the paws in order 
to mislead the wanderer into a swamp. 

The Kappa, literally ‘‘boy of the river,’’ is a 
fantastic animal, mostly depicted with a body re- 
sembling that of a tortoise, frog legs and a monkey- 
like head, on the top of which is a hollow which is 
filled with his watery elixir of life. This creation, 
nevertheless, is ‘‘scientifically’’ described as a 
froggy creature, four feet nine inches in height and 
in 1830 was still caught in swamps. He is in love, 
is dangerous to young ladies, has a fighting spirit, 
but is as ceremonious as a nobleman. JBefore en- 
gaging in a duel with a Kappa, man is advised to 
request that the Kappa make a polite bow. The 
Kappa, is such a gentleman that he will comply 
with the request of his adversary but this causes 
the life giving water to flow out of the hollow on 
his head so that he is easily conquered. 


MYTHOLOGY 159 


The Nuye, the noctural bird of legend is a crea- 
ture with a human body, the legs of a tiger, the 
head of a monkey, and a tail of a snake with a head 
onthe end. People would never have known about 
it, had not the noble hero, Minamoto no Yorimasa, 
in the fourth month of the year 1153 A. D. dis- 
covered the Nuye. 

There is enough material to write a book on the 
origin of the dragon myths, their migration from 
one country to another, about their characteristics 
and their transfiguration. For the dragon seems 
to be a reminiscence of the entire humanity of the 
tertiary period and the worst enemy of the younger 
human race. Inthe system of Chinese natural his- 
tory, four different kinds are distinguished: 
heavenly dragons, who guard the gods; spiritual 
dragons, who cause rain and wind; earthly drag- 
ons, who create rivers and brooks; and finally the 
subterranean dragons who safeguard hidden treas- 
ures. In addition to these, there is a fifth one of 
Japanese creation, namely the dragon of the seas. 
In China and in Japan, the dragon is not looked 
upon as an evil creature. He can make himself 
invisible or appear under a different form. The 
Chinese-Japanese form of the dragon has re- 


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mained the same for the last two thousand six hun- 
dred years: a camel’s head, stag horns, devil eyes, 
ox ears, body similar to that of a snake, scales of a 
carp and claws of an eagle. Flames gush from his 
body through the shoulders and hips. 

The Kirin has the body and head of a stag with a 
soft horn which is bent backwards, the tail of a 
lion, or the head of a dragon provided with the 
same soft horn, the body of a crocodile. The 
back part of his body resembles that of a lion with 
a bushy, curly tail and legs of a stag. He is the 
noblest animal of the creation and the emblem of 
extreme kindness. His appearance is a good sign. 
In Buddhist writing it is stated that he walks so 
softly that no traces of his footsteps are left be- 
hind, and so gently that he does not trample human 
beings. 

The Tengu, likewise a supernatural being, ap- 
pears in two different forms: as raven-tengu with 
the beak of a bird, or else with a human face and 
an enormous nose resembling a sausage, the latter 
being a favorite subject for all kinds of peculiar — 
or comical representations. The origin of this 
mythical creation seems to be the Persian-Grecian. 


MYTHOLOGY 161 


griffin. Half man, half eagle, he is the king of the 
feathered songsters. 

The Japanese saga of the bird catcher who fries 
and devours the Tengu chickens as soon as they 
come out of the egg, and the saga of the hero , 
Yoshitsume, who instructs the Tengu king in the 
art of fencing, are represented by innumerable car- 
vers. It is also said that the natives of Funtan have 
human faces, but have wings and the beak of a bird. © 

The jugglers who travel through the villages 
with their monkeys, are a frequent subject for the 
Netsuke carver. The only native Japanese monkey 
has a short tail, is related to the Chinese tschelien- 
sis, has a rose-red face, long, fine, grey or greyish- 
brown fur and red callous spots behind. He is 
very easy to train and is taken around by the 
monkey juggler. The wild as well as the juggler’s 
monkey, clad in a jacket, is one of the favorite sub- 
jects for plastic art and painting (Plate XII). 
In Taoism and Buddhism the monkey plays a great 
part; in the former religion he is depicted holding 
a peach, the symbol of longevity. 

The fox belongs to the class of animals who, ac- 
cording to Japanese belief, can transform them- 
selves into human figures (Plate XV, 4). With 


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all kinds of supernatural gifts, he unites desire and 
vexation. At the age of fifty he can transfigure 
himself into a human being, at the age of one hun- 
dred into a beautiful girl, and when he has grown 
to be a thousand years old, he acquires nine tails 
and becomes a divinity. Asa Buddhist and Shin- 
toist saga figure he is the creator of all sorts of un- 
desired complications in human life, and in Shin- 
toism he is the messenger of the rice god Ianri. 
There are seven such fox spirits among whom the 
crystal fox is the most dangerous rogue. 

The lion (Plate III, 2), the king of the four- 
footed animals, the symbol of craft, has been intro- 
duced into Japan from China. In the East-Asiatic 
art he bears only a faint resemblance to the real 
lion. He is adorned with beautiful locks of hair, 
amuses himself among peonies or plays with a ball, 
the holy trinket, a crystal cylinder which he either 
has rolling loosely in his mouth or holds under his 
right paw. ‘The entire representation resembles 
that of our conventional heraldic lion. 

The tiger is (Plate ITI, 1), like the phoenix, the 
dragon and the tortoise, a supernatural animal, a 
symbol of craft, also the king of the mountain 
animals. Like the other animals he was brought 


MYTHOLOGY 163 


into Japan from India via China, in his conven- 
tional form. He resembles a striped cat, is sup- 
posed to become white at the age of five hundred, 
and live to be one thousand years. He is associated 
with bamboo. 

The lemmings, although a plague in Japan, are 
an object of interest to young and old. Mice are 
very scarce. White and colored rats and mice are ~ 
kept for amusement. 

The hare and rabbit appear very often in the 
sagas of Japan in connection with the full moon 
and reach the age of 1000. The hare pounds mochi 
in a rice mortar in the moonlight. In 
Taoism he pounds the drugs to make the elixir 
of life. The head-cloth of the hare points to the 
heavy work he has to perform. He gives the Jap- 
anese workman a feeling of strength. 

The Japanese horse, a kind of pony with 
short neck, bushy mane and heavy hair, is one of 
the first domestic animals. He has always been 
and still is used for riding and as carrier, but is 
never driven. 

While the two-humped camel is present in South 
and Central Asia, the dromedary with one hump is 


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found in West Asia only. A few living species may 
have found their way to Japan from time to time. 

The only Japanese stag is smaller and more 
slender than ours and has light spots like a buck. 
Neither the goat, yagi, nor the lamb are indigenous 
to Japan. The steer in Japan is the symbol of the 
popular god of calligraphy who lived in the 9th 
century A. D. 

The elephant, (Plate ITI, 3), has ever been sym- 
bolized as praying to Siva. In China he is sym- 
bolic of craft, a son of the dragon and a pig, and 
in Japan, where he is only known by the Chinese 
images, he is considered a great friend of children. 

The wild boar is the only representative of the 
four-footed animals of Japan that resembles his 
European brother. 

The cuckoo, comes at the end of the fifth month 
from fairy land, and with his calling warns the 
farmer to plant the rice. According to the Hast- 
Asiatic version, the cuckoo and the moon belong 
together like the lion and the peony, the tiger and 
bamboo, ete. 

A tortoise, according to the Hindu legend, car- 
ries an elephant, who in turn carries the world. 

She belongs to the four Chinese supernatural 





PLATE XVI—WRITING OUTFIT AND FIGURES 


1. Dutchman (wood). 2. Man and drum, (wood). 3. Writing 
“as * 5 
outfit, (wood). 





MYTHOLOGY 165 


animals, is supposed to attain a fabulous age and 
then acquire a long-haired tail. She is a symbol 
of longevity. Her tail seems to be attached to the 
hind part of the back like a wreath of long green 
hair. 

The cat, (Plate IV, 1), often with a short, mutil- 
ated tail, belongs also in Japan to the domestic 
animals. The dog is a domestic animal which is 
found everywhere in large numbers. A small pet- 
dog was first introduced from China by the Portu- 
guese, in the 17th century named Chin ‘‘a hideous 
monstrosity, but an aristocrat, with two large, pro- 
truding rolling eyes and a tiny flat nose.’’ The 
European dog was imported into Japan a relative- 
ly short time ago. 

The octopus, or inkfish, were able, according to 
the legend, to draw down into the deep with their 
enormous arms an entire ship. Their round- 
shaped eyes and their nose which is shaped like a 
funnel give them a human appearance. In the 
East-Asiatic saga they play an important part, 
pursue beautiful maidens and make love to them 
under the water. The head with a long funnel nose 
reminds the Japanese of a Shiofuki mask. The 


166 NETSUKES 


octopus is caught by lowering an empty crock to 
the bottom of the sea into which he likes to crawl. 
On the other hand, the Japanese, in case of ship- 
wreck, are said to tie a rope to the octopus and to 
let him down into the sea in order that he may find 
valuable earthen ware pots and bring them with 
him when he is drawn to the surface. 

The snake is a symbol of retaliation, which is 
sometimes more fully illustrated, as for instance: 
a worm swallowed by a toad, a snake whirled 
around the toad, the snake attacked by a boar, the 
latter threatened by a hunter, the hunter pursued 
by a devil. 

The Venus shell, is always mentioned in connec- 
tion with passionate love and constancy. Very 
often the reproductions show the Venus shell as 
holding between its shells the foot of a Kappa, or 
the hip-cloth of aman. The bride, in order that she 
may prepare the wedding soup, is presented with a 
bowl of Venus shells. 

The day before ‘‘Bon’’ the most ceremonious of 
all Buddhist festivities, the twelfth day of the 
seventh month, on the occasion of the funeral cere- 
mony, the tombstones of the forefathers are placed 
upon a platform which is called the spirit altar, in 


MYTHOLOGY 167 


order that their spirits may temporarily be among 
their own people. Above the altar is a rope to 
which, in addition to the millet and the lotus fruit, 
eggplants are fastened. The eggplant Netsuke is 
probably a reminder of such a ceremony. 

The lotus flower, with its beautiful white blos- 
soms, grows in slimy water, and for the devout 
Buddhists is an emblem of the human soul which, 
after having left the pleasures of this world, 
aspires to godly purity. 

The frequent occurrence of Netsukes which re- 
present, in a smaller form, the masks that are 
worn in No plays (Plate VI, VIL), indicates per- 
haps that the finest works of art were made for the 
most intellectual people. For the old No play 
was a religious drama which, on account of its won- 
derfully descriptive and interlarded quotations 
from the Buddhist writings, and the quotations 
from Chinese poetry, could only be understood by 
the highly educated class of people. The anony- 
mous librettists were, for the most part, Buddhist 
monks (14-16th century) while the authors of the 
well-known No plays (about 230 A. D.) composed 
only the music and the pantomime dances. During 
the entire Tokugawa period (1602-1868), the 


168 NETSUKES 


troups of actors were made up of noblemen, who 
acted ancient plays similar to our mystery and 
moral plays, and prized highly the old costumes 
and conventional masks, some of which dated from 
the eighth century and others from the religious 
temple dances performed in honor of the gods and 
called Kagura. Only those actors who took the 
part of females or supernatural beings wore 
masks. The diversity of the Japanese Netsuke 
masks is astounding. There are the beauty, the 
fox a special favorite, demons with horns and 
three eyes, a satyr with horns and the snout of a 
goat, Uzume, ete. 

It is difficult to determine, by means of physio- 
enomical analysis, the meaning of the face expres- 
sion and the sort of human character which the 
carver originally intended to represent.. Neither 
Darwin, nor any of the modern authors like Man- 
tegazza, make such clear distinction in the facial 
expressions, which result from the various emo- 
tions: contentment, cheerfulness, joy, happiness, 
sensuousness, beatitude or on the other hand, dis- 
pleasure, discouragement, grief, sorrow, pain, etc., 
as would permit a layman to classify and deter- 
mine a certain mask when he has nothing else to 


MYTHOLOGY 169 


be guided by except the emotions which are dis- 
played in the features of the mask. 

In regard to the artist names on these masks, 
I doubt whether in many cases they do not repre- 
sent the name of the carver who originally created 
the mask life-size, instead of that of the Netsuke 
earver. While the masks, which represent men, 
show a particularly positive and strong expression, 
even in cases where they are not supposed to show 
any marked emotion, the masks of women, on the 
other hand, often appear without expression. The 
only sign of tragedy is the absence of the smile 
which the Japanese woman is always supposed to 
wear for the family and friends. She may cease 
to smile, but no spasm of pain or anxiety must ap- 
pear on the fair face with its downcast eyes. The 
countenance must be unlined by the invisible har- 
row of thought, unstained by tears. 





PARTIAL BIBLIOGRAPHY 





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